Xenologue: The Painted World
by coke monster
Summary: A new Outrealm has opened, bringing with it strange anomalies. The Shepherds must traverse this land in the hopes to find answers to the blight that is seeping into their realm. The dark, however, is not so easily understood. Robin will find that simply surviving in this harsh world will be a challenge all its own.
1. Prologue: Monotony's End

Prologue

Monotony's End

The flame was bright. So bright, that it cast the surrounding emptiness in shadow. It was as if this bonfire was at the center of The Abyss, and I the only inhabitant of this world. It swirled listlessly, endlessly spinning in a cycle that would never end. The orange and yellow hues were comfortable.

Bonfires were the only places that were partially spared of conflict, but even then fewer were completely safe from invasion. This was one of those few, and so I allowed myself to become hypnotized by its spell. It mattered not how much time passed. I knew from experience. Time had no meaning in hell.

Eventually, however, I stood. My surroundings hadn't changed, nor would they ever if eons were spent gazing into that flame. Before me, the wooden doors that led into the "Princess'" Chamber were closed. To my back, the rest of Anor Londo lay barren as the empty cathedrals basked in the perpetual twilight.

I ascended the stairs with little ceremony, and braced my gloved palms against the dusty redwood. How many times? How many times have I been here? I shook off the thought, and focused entirely on the motions. I pushed the doors open, creating a slit that spilled more light the wider it became. I stopped when the gap was enough for me to enter, no more and no less.

I passed the doors, and slowly walked into the chamber. The faint, gallant music immediately began to whisper all around me. It was hopeful, mystical, enchanting. It fit the majestic room perfectly, and so I had never questioned it the first time I had stepped into this seemingly divine space. I had been taken in by the soft carpet under my naked feet, the statues of silver knights that guarded dutifully, even though all of their ranks were long dead. The sheer contrast of this chamber, this moment, had been so impactful as to fool me.

Now, as I entered, I could see the dust that covered the carpet-less tiles. I could hear my own footfalls echo loudly, too loudly, as I traversed. And when I looked upon the single inhabitant of this grand farce, I could no longer appreciate her beauty.

Waiting there was the giant laying upon her silken bed. She was overshadowed by the brilliant radiance that emanated from the curtained window behind her. Even so, my eyes adjusted to the dark. I could plainly make out the image that'd so easily won my fealty.

"Thou hast journey'd far, and overcome much, chosen Undead. Come hither, child…"

I did. Kneeling at the base of the bed, as I always had, I listened to her repeat the same words she always gave.

"O chosen Undead. I am Gwynevere. Daughter of Lord Gwyn; and Queen of Sunlight…"

No, she wasn't. I knew exactly who was spouting those lies, who was behind the strings.

"…bequeath the Lordvessel to thee. And Beseech thee. Succeed Lord Gwyn, and inheriteth the Fire of our world..."

How many times have I done this? How many times have I done exactly as I was told, thinking it would accomplish something?

"…endeth this eternal twilight, and avert further Undead sacrifices."

It doesn't have an end. It will never have an end. This suffering will continue. No matter how many times I threw myself to the flame, no matter how many times I have saved the people trying to live in this horrid land, no matter how many souls I gathered, it was never enough! I always ended where I had begun. None of my actions have mattered. None of my actions will ever matter. Nothing has had any meaning, so why repeat it? Why not try something, anything, to get some new result. Anything would do… Anything.

I realized she had ceased speaking, and rose from my knee. From a pouch, I equipped the pyromancy flame. I only stood there, watching the illusion bounce as it breathed the musty air. Doubt seeped into my mind. A part of me screamed to turn around, that there may be another way. That perhaps this time it would work, and the cycle would break, and peace would finally be acquired through my valiant sacrifice.

I shut those thoughts out. Nothing would save me from simply repeating what I have done from the beginning. I would never make it through another cycle. My body, no, my mind would give out long before then. This, at the very least, offered some new experience. This… this had to be done.

I casted the fireball as high as I could launch it. It exploded onto the unarmored woman, causing a woeful scream that filled the chamber. She evaporated in a shower of white, leaving the sizable furniture empty. For one horrifying moment, I thought that nothing would happen. That my actions had yielded nothing yet again, and I was still stuck on this path which held no end. So when the light dimmed, and an alien voice came from the waxing darkness, I felt an excitement I thought I had lost long ago.

"Thou that tarnisheth the Godmother's image. I am Gwyndolin. And thy transgression shall not go unpunished. Thou shalt perish in the twilight of Anor Londo."


	2. Chapter 1: Summoning

Xenologue: The Painted World

* * *

Chapter 1

Summoning

Robin awoke in the confinement of a comfortable bed. Above was the familiar ceiling of his study, and just to his side was the draped window that spilled light directly into his eyes. Dust floated lazily throughout the room, a fine coat covering many of the books and furniture. He stepped on one such tome he'd been reading the prior evening as he rose to his feet. He tore through a small closet, dawned a fresh cloak, and made toward the window with his steps the only sound of life in the mild dark. The white haired man parted the curtains to let in a blinding bolt of radiance. He need only cover his eyes for a second before being able to feast his gaze on the view.

A clear blue sky with the morning sun just over the horizon sat above the peaceful capitol of Ylisse. It's been several months since the end of the Mad King Gangrel. The celebrations were well over, and the rebuilding of the aftermath was underway. A statue had been built where the previous exalt was buried, a memorial to all who lost their lives for peace. Now the new exalt was doing what he could to keep his nation stable. After the many battles were over, many of the Shepherds were dismissed. Some went away on vacation around the world, while some stayed here in the Halidom. The Tactician opted to stay for the immense library collection at the royalty's exposal, much of which were scattered or wedged in the overstuffed bookshelves throughout his room.

Robin smiled and turned away from the glass window. He'd cooped himself up here far too long. A visit to the barracks seemed the best place for a change of scenery. He made sure to stuff a tome into his cloak. No telling when he'd have some time to kill.

The hall was small for the Halidom, but still grand in scale with large windows high above the walls to let in light. The air was noticeably fresher out here than in his study.

"Good morning."

Robin's heart leaped out of rhythm as he jumped from the female voice. He hadn't seen her, and he wondered if that was intentional. Tharja's head poked out from behind a nearby indent between Robin's room and hers. How she convinced Stahl to switch with her, Robin would rather not think about. "Uh… good morning, Tharja. I didn't see you there."

She lightly scratched the wall, her usual golden accessories jingling as she moved. "Oh, I'm used to that. Where were you going Robin?"

"I was going to visit the barracks… did you…" He could already feel regret seeping into him as the words spilled from his mouth. "Did you want to join me?"

Her cryptic smile quickly turned to a frown. "And be surrounded by pig brained soldiers? I think I'll pass."

Robin tried his best to hide the relief. "So glad to hear that you still think so highly of others. Well, I'll be going then…"

But that was too easy.

"Why don't we go to a place with just the two of us? Or maybe even by yourself, you won't even know I'm there."

"Ahhh, that sounds great. Maybe this evening." Robin started inching away, desperate to depart this conversation.

"Sure~ it's a date. Oh wait; there was actually something I wanted to tell you." Tharja stepped out from behind the wall to catch up with him.

Robin's brow furrowed. "Oh, so you weren't just counting the breaths I took outside my door?" He suddenly realized at some point that had become normal in his life.

"Well that was a bonus. In the middle of the night, I felt something peculiar. Call it… a feeling. There's a rise in dark energy coming from the south. It feels faint, very far away but I can feel it nonetheless. Do you want to investigate it? I'm very curious as to see what it is." Tharja's mouth contorted to one of her smiles.

"A feeling huh?" Robin was intrigued, but intrigue rarely won out when it came to the dark arts, especially when it involved Tharja. "I'll keep that in mind, seeya!" With that, he fled down the hall and in the direction of the mess hall.

Tharja was left more than disappointed behind him… but he did forget to lock his room door. The smile returned. "Keheheh…"

2

Robin panted as he ducked behind a doorway. His legs were killing him. Even the short sprint was enough to wear out his unused body. He'd have to start taking strolls through the garden or something to get back in shape.

The messhall was mostly empty, save for some new recruits late to their training and veterans too old to worry about schedules anymore. Robin definitely related to the latter. Peace time was welcome, even if it did cause some complacency in the thin army. He hadn't expected to see anyone he knew here, but was still disappointed to see the giant hall empty. So many celebrations had been hosted here, so many memories: The rickety table where arm wrestles were waged, the time when Olivia had performed her routine for everyone (then burst into tears in embarrassment), and the door that Vaike had left crooked after he bashed it op-

A crash broke Robin's reminiscing. "The Vaike is back!" The loud warrior burst into the once quiet room. Even without his axe, he still resembled a bandit more than one of Ylisse's soldiers. Out of his grand shadow came Lissa and Maribelle in the middle of a heated, but much quieter conversation between them. Lon 'qu followed behind them with several bags in each hand. Robin couldn't help but smile at the sight.

The Vaike was the first to see him. "Robin! Hay bud, you just missed my crushing victory!"

"Uhh, Good morning to you too Vaike." Robin said. He closed the distance with some amount of caution at the man's enthusiasm.

Lissa and Maribelle turned from where they were furiously conversing. "You." Maribelle pointed an accusatory finger to Vaike. "You invite yourself upon our little shopping trip and then feel the need to spar in the middle of the plaza? I don't know what goes on in that cavernous head of yours—"

"I saw Lon's look." Vaike shrugged. "Non fightin' ladies like yourselves can't see the look, but he gave me one. It's a silent challenge, I couldn't just let him get away with it!"

Lon'qu set the many bags on the nearest table with a grunt. "I gave no such look."

Robin flicked his curious gaze between them. "You two fought in the streets?"

"And I won." Vaike said proudly.

"It was a… hectic morning. Let's call it that." Lissa giggled. She seemed much more amused than the other blonde next to her. "Sorry, I didn't think you were up. I would've invited you."

"I wasn't. I just woke up a few minutes ago. What was that about fighting in the streets?"

"It was supposed to be a quick run to the store," Maribelle flared, "But these two had to cause a ruckus." She grabbed one of the bags and disappeared into the kitchen.

"I am not the one to blame." Lon'qu said in his usual calm demeanor.

Vaike hooked a muscly arm around Robin, bringing him in for hushed words. "I'm sorry to say this, but Lon'qu over here isn't what he used to be. How about you and me have a go after some breakfast and I can get a real challenge? Whatd'ya say? I'll even go easy on you."

"That'll be a no…" Robin stammered, trying to unlock the heavy weight on his neck.

"You ambushed me as we walked through the street." Lon'qu stabbed at Vaike with his gaze.

"Well I gotta keep ya on your toes bud- There! See it! That's the look…That mean you wanna go again? I'm ready!" Vaike released the shorter tactician and pounded his chest.

Robin recoiled into a nearby seat. Lissa had scavenged through the bags, and now sat down opposite to him with some fresh rolls of bread. "Here, they've been like that all morning. At least some of the groceries were salvageable."

Robin's morning was a hectic one, as Lissa would put it. Even still, he was more than happy to catch up with some friends. Apparently the morning shopping was also a cover, Lissa explained, for the upcoming birthday of Libra. They'd have it in the temple the monk stayed at and get as many Shepherds as they could. Poor timing, as most were still on leave.

"I got him this reaaally cool stave, too." Lissa tore the gift from her shopping purse. It was half the length and size of any they used in the army, and had the emblem of the exalted engraved straight into the gemstone.

Robin raised a brow at the craftsmanship. "Where'd you get this?"

"Isn't it adorable!" She squealed. "I had it custom made. It's so much cuter than the regular ones. Look! It'll even hook onto his robes or whatever you call them."

"Dearest Lissa, please do not hike up your dress for all to see!" Maribelle fumed.

"Oh fine." Lissa sighed as she took her seat again. "I'm just worried he'll say something like, 'It's a gift in itself to have you all here.' And then make me feel bad because there'll only be, like, ten of us there."

"I'm sure he'll understand." Robin assured.

The five of them ate, some louder than others. Robin noticed some stares their way. He didn't know whether it was due to their high status or that Vaike was imitating a starving bear.

"I know, but it's still a bummer not everyone will be there. Ugh, I miss those days." Lissa said in between large bites of food.

"Hun, those were days of war that shouldn't be missed one bit." Maribelle chimed.

"I… I know that, but it wasn't all bad back when everyone was together." Lissa said.

"You could do for a vacation, dear." Maribelle said. "It might get your mind off the past and point it to where it should be facing: the future." She sipped her cup of tea with some amusement. "What are your plans…" Her voice faded from Robin's focus.

 _The future._ Robin felt like he'd glimpsed the future all too many times. The nightmares he rarely told anyone still plagued him. Only… he remembered the last one was a strange nightmare, not like the reoccurring one with that assassin standing in an abyss of darkness. What was uncommon were the images he'd seen; strange lands, stone pillars rising next to colossal dragons, Risen everywhere. He had accepted that nightmares would simply be a part of his everyday life since he was found on that dirt road, but this one seemed different. It gave him a terrible knot in his gut. He…

 _I have a feeling._

Robin finished his brunch, gave his goodbyes and they gave their farewells. He needed to speak to Chrom.

He left out of the messhall and began turning down the many corridors and intersecting hallways. The throne room door was shut and guarded by a pair of knights. Visiting hours must have started. The guards only stopped him briefly, claiming the Exalt was busy. "I've important information about the Risen attacks to the south. Excuse me gentleman," Was enough to get passed the gates. It's not like it was entirely deceitful. He had a rising suspicion what Tharja had said was not a ploy to kidnap him once and for all. Some evil was tugging at his senses, even though this morning was as peaceful as any other.

"No, no, and no again!" Robin heard Chrom's voice echo out in rage. "I'm not going to give you your neighbor's land because he built a fence a few inches into your property."

Robin stayed in the shadows behind the throne. Frederick was whispering into the ear of Chrom who was standing from his seat. The farmer on the lower steps clenched a scroll of paper and turned around to leave. One of the many knights lining the grandiose room hollered that the farmer was to show proper respect. The man promptly turned and mock-bowed, "Why thank you, my Lordlyness. Hmp." He left without an ounce of care.

Chrom receded into his comfy seat with a hand enwrapping his forehead. Frederick gazed off at the farmer, a clear intent of murder lingering in his stare. Robin stepped out and rested a hand on the gilded chair. "Enjoying your duties, M'lord?"

Chrom raised his eyes from his palm-tent, tried to smile, and failed. "Good morning, Robin. I'm having a great day with the people of Ylisse, as always."

Frederick rolled his armored shoulders. "That man ought to pay respect to royalty. Say the word, and I shall generously teach him some manners."

"No need. He'll just come back tomorrow with the exact same complaint. Just like all the others that don't understand 'No'." Chrom stood again, already looking tired even though the day had barely started. "What brings you here? I warn you that there's no tactics that'll convince some of these people that their problems are petty."

"Wow, this sure has made you a bitter ruler hasn't it?" Robin smirked.

"You sit in this chair for one day listening to these things! A fence two inches too far, an alleged candy thief on the loose, a petition to invade Regna Ferox, madness…" Despite his tone, Chrom started to smile. It was probably by how mad he himself sounded.

"M'lord." Frederick said. "There are still more visitors in line. It is important that the people see their Exalt as a calm, fair leader."

"Well hold them off for a moment." Chrom said. Frederick gave a quick hand signal, and two guards left down the steps toward the main entrance. Chrom turned to face his tactician. "I know you haven't stopped by just to give me a break, Robin."

Robin folded his sleeves together. "…I wanted to know if there has been any recent news of Risen attacks."

Chrom waved a hand in dismissal. "Every Risen sighting so far has been small."

"All of them were taken care of by our soldiers." Frederick added quite proudly.

"What about to the south?" The words spilled from Robin's mouth before he could stop them. This caused both the knight and the Exalt to give him a curious stare.

"What is this about? Have YOU news of Risen in the south?" Chrom said.

"No, I…" How could he explain it? "Tharja. She said she felt something coming from that direction. I just thought our hexer was up to something, again, but I wanted to check with you just in case."

Chrom's serious demeanor lightened. "Robin, come now. It's _Tharja_. She claims to feel darkness from everything." He chuckled.

Robin caught a glimpse of Frederick's inquisitive stare pointed right at him. He knew that look, that ' _what are you hiding?_ ' look the knight seemed to always have pointed at him. Robin was not about to press any further, less he make a fool of himself or even worse: offend the staunch knight.

"Well, alright then. If anything-"

"This can't wait!" A cry echoed from the main entrance, along with shouting and sounds of metal clattering together. Frederick drew his spear in both hands and made to stand in front of the confused Chrom. A haggard man came running up the steps, stopping just before the many knights surrounded the intruder. "Wait! Wait! Exalt!"

Chrom sighed. Frederick treated the unarmed man as if he were an assassin. "Why have you trespassed?" And before a reply could even be given, "Take him away!"

"Risen! I rid all the way from Ludwig, on my fastest horse no less. The whole town is under siege! Please, this can't wait!"

Chrom paused a moment as Frederick stepped down to ask for details. He slowly turned to Robin, who was equally confused. "There's your Risen attack."

3

The guards outside the throne room murmured to each other before jumping to attention when the door burst open. Chrom and Robin marched out in haste.

"Frederick will brief us on the way." Chrom said, turning toward the barracks.

Robin made for the messhall. "I'll let everyone know." The two split to prepare for the mission. A rush of adrenaline now made his steps quicker, despite his previous sprint. He wasn't happy, knowing that people were probably in danger, but he'd be lying if he didn't admit he was looking forward to some practice.

Robin was once again breathless as he flew through the messhall doors. The Shepherds were still there, along with the other soldiers who had noticeably scooted away from them. The Vaike sometimes had that effect on the unacquainted. "Shepherds! Risen are attacking a village. Get to the barracks and-"

"A mission? Alright!" Vaike shot from his seat and rushed passed Robin. The rest looked to one another before following quickly after, leaving their mess. Robin caught a glimpse of an angry cook, and promptly fled after them.

When Robin reached the barracks, it was a whirlpool of Shepherds scrambling for their gear. He began preplanning as he threw open the tome shelf. Lissa, Mirabelle, Lon'qu, Vaike, and Frederick seemed to be all he had to work with today. They needed more soldiers, more heavy hitters to protect the support. Perhaps they had time to scour the city for Libra and any others they could find…

"What's all the commotion?" A familiar female's voice said behind him. Robin jumped yet again to find Tharja behind him. She cast a hand toward him, as if to catch his surprised face, only to grab a tome of Nosferatu from the shelf. "You weren't planning on leaving me behind, were you?"

Robin had almost forgotten. "N-nooo. Of course not! We just got word of an emergency Risen attack and-"

"Say no more." Tharja turned, subtly cackling to herself as she left the barracks. The others were leaving as well, equipped and ready for battle. Robin grabbed a few tomes and a vulnerary before heading outside. Pack-horses were being loaded with all the extra supplies they would need. Mirabelle and Frederick saddled onto their personal steads while Chrom was standing outside, overseeing the preparations.

Everything was in order. "Let's move out!" Chrom shouted.

Robin gave a puzzled look. "You're coming too?"

"Why yes I am. I need some time away from my duties, if the Exalt can get away with that." Chrom said.

"What if you get hurt? Ylisse…"

"Ylisse can survive without its leader for a day. And I thought we've gone over this 'I can protect myself' ordeal?" Chrom said. He patted his falchion. "This sword hasn't seen combat for far too long."

Robin grinned. "Fine, I could use another swordsman to go on the offensive line."

"You should really break that habit of seeing us as just pawns on a board, friend." Chrom said, returning the gesture.

"You mean the habit that's won so many battles?"

"True." Chrom began walking to the front of the small band of Shepherds. "Ready? Good. We'll march double time to make it by tomorrow's daybreak. Let's move, Shepherds!"

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 **All Author's Notes will be in my Profile. Thanks, and enjoy.**


	3. Chapter 2: The Curse

Chapter 2

The Curse

"The scouts have confirmed the town is under siege," Frederick said, "A rough estimate of thirty armed Risen, yet no obvious leader among them."

"Thirty?" Lissa said, a tinge of fear creeping into her voice.

"This will not be easy." Lon'qu sighed.

Robin kept his eyes on the trails of smoke in the distance. The Shepherds blazed down the southern road and were now closing on their destination. He'd wait to see the battlefield before working out last minute preparations. Even so, several strategies were being formed with the troops he had. _Eight soldiers against that many Risen? Would that even be possible? We'd have to find a choke point, and then…_

Doubt began to set in where excitement had been only yesterday. To abort the mission now would be dooming all the people within. Robin took quick glances at his allies around him. He grimly realized the exact thoughts were on everyone's minds. Chrom caught his glance. With an unspoken agreement, they kept walking.

Ludwig was a small town bordering the southern sea. Even though it didn't touch the sea itself, the river that flowed straight through the town was a valuable passage from sea to land. In its center was the tallest building the town had, a temple to Naga. The humble harbor was familiar to Robin, as it was the very first battlefield he'd shared with Chrom. As they approached the entrance, it didn't look much better from the first time he had paid a visit.

It was worst. Instead of the raging fires and chaos Robin had expected, the smoke that rose from the quiet streets were only the embers from already demolished homes. Unmoving bodies lay strewn about, either burnt or surrounded by dried pools of red on the gray cobble floor. Ravens scavenged the destruction in droves, the only sign of life in the area. Below the street level, the gutters guiding clear blue water swept past a broken watermill wheel wedged in the stream.

Chrom waved the convoy to stop, drawing his falchion before continuing. Everyone followed with added caution. The pungent stench of rotting meat hit Robin like an arrow piercing into his nose. He made toward one of the bodies with a sleeve to his face. A trio of crows squawked, echoing through the silent town, and flew away from the wrinkled woman on the ground. Robin needn't even kneel to examine. What he was looking for was very apparent, giving him both disgust and a dozen questions.

He found everyone had been watching him. "What is it?" Chrom asked.

Robin removed his sleeve shield. "This corpse… it looks like it's been decomposing for at least a week."

Vaike hefted his axe onto one shoulder. "De-com what'n?"

"They've been dead for several days." Frederick remounted his horse from also examining a corpse.

"B-but how can that be possible?" Mirabelle said. Her horse uneasily buckled from under her.

Frederick only shook his head. "I do not know. Either misinformation, or…" He trailed off in worried thought. No one was able to finish for him.

Robin ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know how to even begin rationalizing this, unless this elderly woman was a risen herself. That seemed unlikely… and what of all the others lying here? Something was amiss.

Tharja whistled, a rare occurrence, and marveled at the destruction before her. "Guess we were too late for this one. The whole town's deserted. Let's leave before the stench sticks to my robes."

"No." Chrom continued walking. "We're not leaving until we find survivors."

An audible ' _tch_ ' resounded from the dark mage. " _If_ there are any survivors."

The band of soldiers followed their leader into the decrepit ruins. For every home still standing, two were piles of black lumber. The roof in the middle of town alluded that the temple was still standing. They made toward the structure, sure that anyone left would've held up there. They had been right.

Lissa stifled a gasp as the Shepherds rounded a corner to see the open courtyard leading to the temple. The building before them was still standing, windows smashed and boarded up, but in relatively good condition compared to its neighbors. However, it was also surrounded by what seemed to be a writhing mass of armored and naked flesh. The risen hadn't been roaming the streets because they were all congealed here, clawing at the stone that separated them from what they were after.

Chrom turned to him, a bead of sweat running down his forehead. "Any ideas, Robin?"

It was worse than he'd imagined. There would be no opportunity to pick any off without drawing all of their attention. All at once, he needed to defeat them all at once. His eyes wandered to the small bridge connecting the courtyard to the temple. He'd never lost a soldier before, and he wasn't about to today. "We'll move as close as we can. Stop at the bridge and hold that line. Frederick, Lon'qu, and Vaike will be the frontline. Lissa and Mirabelle, you support them as much as possible. Tharja and I will attack from behind the front lines. Chrom, you switch in with anyone who needs it."

They listened intently to their orders. No one questioned the tactician's judgment, and accepted their roles, even Chrom who knew he'd been put in the safest position. When all preparations were finished, they got into formation. "Ready?" Robin asked.

Chrom nodded. Frederick and Mirabelle sped down the courtyard toward the bridge, parking their horses behind a market stand holding rotten fruit. Robin led the footmen into the open ground, ducking down behind barrels and stands. The closer they got the more red eyes Robin could see glancing toward them. The mob didn't move however, not yet. The small band was only a few steps away to the bridge. Robin gave the signal.

"Chaaaaaarge!" Vaike cried out, brandishing his axe as he rushed the bridge. Lon'qu followed the barbarian, out sprinting him to plant his feet in the middle of the bridge. Frederick was a blur as he kicked his stead into action. Robin ran as fast as his legs could take him. He took his position behind Frederick, glancing behind him to find all the Shepherds in place. But when he turned around, a chill ran down his spine.

Dozens of red eyes stared directly at him. The Risen had barely made a move. They only stared, unbreathing as statues for only a split second more, before an eruption of ragged shouts passed through each of their dusty throats. They lunged forward in varying speeds, the least decomposed rushing forward with rusted swords.

The first were dealt with quickly. Frederick's armor reflected a weak swing with little damage before he stabbed his own weapon deep into the Risen's torso. Lon'qu side stepped the vertical strike of a longsword and cut the wielder in half. Vaike merely took the hit with gusto, returning the favor with a crushing strike that sent the opponent spiraling off the bridge. Robin kept a watchful eye on every move, swing, and dodge. These Risen were less combat effective than others they'd previously fought, but that only granted them a chance at victory. He knew the true obstacle of this situation: sheer numbers. Three had been slain, and three already took their place.

"Arcfire!" Robin shouted. A ball of fire flung from his hand to engulf the soldier in front of Frederick. It fell to its knees, grasping toward the sky before collapsing to the floor. On the edge of his vision, Robin caught the green hue of a healing stave treating Vaike's wounds. The struggle raged on, the Risen slowly pushing them back by their sheer combined strength. Robin put a hand on Frederick's horse, as if that would stop it from inching back in fear. At some point, Lon'qu had become injured and was being tended to by Lissa. Chrom now stood in his place, valiantly chopping down the endless waves of undead. The line was slowly retreating back into the courtyard. Fatigue would soon set in, along with wounds that simply couldn't be healed fast enough. They needed a fast victory.

An idea struck him that was both obvious and practical that Vaike had already demonstrated. "Toss them off the side!" Robin shouted against the clatter of iron on iron. The three men on the frontline shifted their eyes behind them to see if their tactician was serious. Chrom and Vaike smiled.

"You heard 'em!" Chrom yelled. He flattened his falchion, stabbing just to the side of some Risen. With a loud grunt he shoved several Risen just to the bridge's edge. The bundle of twisted soldiers clumped together in a tangled mess.

"Class…" Vaike wound his axe. Chrom ducked just before the brutal swing. "…Dismissed!" He collided with the Risen, severing many in half and sending the rest plummeting to the water below.

Frederick followed his lord's lead, sweeping his spear sideways like a sword strike. The Risen lost their balance, either falling off the edge or to the bridge floor. Robin hurled another fireball to roast the prone soldiers. The satisfying plops of water below told of an effective strategy. With the majority of the forces under them, the Shepherds pushed forward. The last of the Risen mob consisted of walking or crawling bodies that put up little resistance.

The fighting came to an end. They stared down at the dozen or so undead moaning in the water below. Cheers passed through the exhausted Shepherds. Robin instead let out a long sigh of relief. He stared carefully at the bodies that now rag dolled on the bridge. These Risen could have easily surrounded them, had they been able to push them out into the courtyard. This knowledge of barely surviving, like after many battles, kept Robin from fully celebrating. It didn't stop others, however.

"Woooo!" Vaike cheered. "Chrom, that was some serious team work back there! One-two punch and we sent them back to their watery graves! Haha!"

Chrom returned the gesture with a less boisterous tone. "I'm pretty sure it was Robin who had planted the idea in our heads. Good work everyone. Let's see if we can get in this temple."

"Yea but… I did it first…" Vaike grumbled. Lon'qu put a less than sympathetic hand on his comrade's shoulder.

The Exalt was just about to go to bash the boarded door when a voice came from within.

"H-hello?" The crackly voice called. "Who's out there?"

"Hello." Chrom said. "I'm Chrom. It's safe to come out now. How many of you are there?"

He and the survivor inside kept talking, and Robin was glad to leave diplomacy to the expert. The tactician sat on the wall's edge, staring at the Risen that clawed at the stone from where they floated on the still water. They looked different from any he'd encountered before. Their gray skins, the strange armor (even for ancient Risen) were foreign in these lands, and their boney frames lacked muscle of any kind. They were Risen, but not in the same vein.

Lissa bent over the edge to look down with Robin. She didn't dare sit. "Uh… do you think it's safe to leave them like that?"

"Maybe." Robin said absentmindedly. He was mentally tossing all the knowledge scholars had been able to gather on the monsters over the months.

"Robin?" Lissa said. "You have a nick on your cheek."

Robin shook his thoughts away and got to his feet. "Oh, I hadn't noticed." Lissa brought her staff and waved it about, releasing it's magic to swirl around him. He instantly felt better, revitalized from the exhaustion of battle. "You don't need to waste your stave on such a minor cut."

Lissa giggled. "We have plenty in stock, worry-wart."

Robin noticed Chrom had stopped talking, and joined him in front of the temple. The large wooden barricades creaked open, the head of a wary young man poking out from the shadows inside. The bags under the poor boys eyes told of restless nights and little sunlight. When he recognized them as who they said they were, he swung the doors fully open. Chrom slowly stepped into the dusty air. Robin followed, adjusting his eyes to the dim light. Dozens, no, a hundred people sat curled among each other on the temple benches and floor. Every one of their gazes pointed to the tactician and their ruler entering from the blinding light outside. A pit grew in Robin's stomach, an emotion which he couldn't quite pin down welling inside him.

"W-we've been in 'ere for days. I thought Gilligan road outta town to warn someone… what took you so long?" The young doorman asked. The man was more happy and curious than angry, but it didn't stop Robin from becoming frustrated at not knowing the answer.

2

"A week?" Chrom exclaimed. "That's impossible. Your messenger arrived only yesterday, and we departed soon after."

"These poor people…" Lissa said. The two healers went to healing as many wounded as they could.

"But it's the truth!" The young man said. "We ran out of food just yesterday. Please, have you any to spare?" With a limp arm, he motioned to the many kids and mothers. There were little men, and no elderly to be seen. Robin wondered just how many families have been torn apart.

Chrom immediately ordered Frederick to retrieve rations. "We'll escort you to the capital. Everyone's going to be ok."

The people gave no resounding cheer, but a wary relief passed through the crowd. They gathered what little belongings they had and began filing out into the courtyard. Robin watched as each face became illuminated by the bright rays of sunlight, their hands usually rising to their eyes to shield them. Many of them bore the indented cheeks of a starved beggar. They really had been in here for more than a few days.

"We're going to need more sta— what the?" Lissa shook her head from where she knelt above an unconscious boy.

Mirabelle looked over. "What is it?"

Robin walked over to where they were. "What's wrong?"

The blonde girl clutched her stave and recoiled from the boy she had been tending. On the child's chest was hideous mass of twisting veins under the skin. They were like roots, with the stem being a single point where the veins joined right above where the heart would be. Robin thought this alone was frightening, but soon put together why Lissa was so panicked.

"I- I couldn't heal it." She stuttered.

Mirabelle waved her own stave, releasing green aura to cover the boy. It did nothing to erase the nasty flesh. "What? There isn't a physical ailment in this land that a healing stave can't cure!"

"Maybe it's a birthmark…?" Lissa said. She stood up, inching away from the boy.

Robin's mind raced. He'd never seen a mark of this nature. _Was this a disease? If so, was it contagious? Were we all infected the very moment they entered this temple? What if…_

He rushed back outside. The blinding light topped off the headache that the growing questions had brought him. A hundred people stood about the courtyard, all of varying ages and states of health. Frederick handed out the last of their rations to as many people as he could, Chrom just a few feet away safely guiding citizens across the small bridge.

"Chrom!"

The blue haired prince turned from the urgency in his voice. "Robin? What's happened?"

Robin felt a sudden hesitation. He had to see it for his own eyes, had to be sure that Lissa wasn't right in that it was just an isolated marking on a poor child. The tactician grabbed the young man who'd open the door for them, apologizing as he ripped open the tattered shirt. "Hay, what're you-"

Just as he feared. The same marking, almost identical in shape, position, size, and color clung to the man's skin like a fleshy leech. Chrom only looked confused. "This. This exact marking was on another person." Robin spoke through quick breaths.

His friend was only more confused. "What are you saying? What is this?"

"I don't know. I think it's a disease, it could be contagious. We can't let them into the capital." Robin said.

"A disea- A mark- What? We're taking these people back to the capital, they need food and shelter." Chrom said. Robin occasionally cursed his friend's wits. Now was one of those times.

"Don't you see? This isn't natural. Lissa and Mirabelle couldn't even heal it. If this gets into the capital, who knows if it will spread?"

The white skin on Chrom's began to flush red. "I don't, and neither do you. This 'disease' could be anything. We'll worry about it once we get back, or even when we make camp but-"

"Uhh… Prince, sir." The doorman said, desperately covering his naked chest with the torn flaps of the shirt. His wary voice broke the spell the brewing argument had cast over Robin. He found many of the town's people staring at them, along with the Shepherds. He gulped down a knot in his throat. Perhaps they should've found a more private area. "That mark the white haired guy found… it's on most of us."

"Where'd it come from!?" Robin and Chrom spoke at the same time, remnants of frustration in their tone.

The man straightened up. "I-it started appearing when the Risen came! First only a few had it… but then more and more people just sort a… found it on themselves. No one's died from it, we don't think. It's just… there." He patted his heart. "… We're going to the Halidom, right?"

"Yes" Chrom assured.

"Chrom…" Robin said.

"My decision is final, Robin." Chrom said. Robin knew that stern look well. There'd be no more words that could dissuade him once his mind was made.

Frederick emerged from the crowd, his hulking armor almost shoving some off the bridge. The few undead that floated still moaned from below. "Milord, I agree with Robin."

"Thank you Frederick, but not… huh?" Chrom said. Both men stared at the third, not sure if they heard correctly. Robin wasn't able to remember the last time he'd heard those words from the knight.

Frederick sighed. "I apologize. If you order it so, I shall follow you. But you must understand this does not just concern these villagers. If our tactician is right in his guess, it could endanger all of Ylisse's people."

Murmurs rippled throughout the townspeople. Chrom became silent. The Risen moans were slowly drowned out by the crowd as the prince pondered. Shouts began to ring out.

"You can't leave us!"

"What about my child?"

"We're gonna die out here!"

Robin grabbed Chrom's shoulder, and in a low tone that sank below the shouts, "We'll leave the convoy with them, equip the remaining able-bodied. We have to investigate why all of this is happening, and I think we both know where to look."

Chrom said nothing. The crowd continued to grow more and more agitated. Frederick only stared at the prince. Lon'qu and Vaike stood on the outskirt, unaware of what the commotion was for. The undead moans mixed with the pleading shouts to create a symphony of voices that filled the air as the Exalt opened his mouth.

A crack of lightning burst out. Robin flinched at the flash of light that was birthed just to his flank. Silence blanketed the courtyard. The moans of the undead were gone. Tharja strolled back from where she had cast Thunder below the bridge. She closed the tome, hugging it to her chest as she leaned against the temple's wall. When the mage seemed to realize all eyes were on her, she gave a simple statement. "They were noisy."

Robin peeked below to find several bodies of both Risen and fish floating lifeless just above the still water. The villagers were quiet as Chrom began to explain the situation.

3

Robin stepped off the small barge that had transported them. No trees stood on the small island. Its rocky coastline blurred into the soil of a grassy plain with no definite end or beginning. The land sloped steadily up to the only hill that gently rose from the flatness. On it, planted firmly on the round peak, was the stone structure and its luminescence ring that lit the grass around it: the Outrealm Gate.

The Shepherds hiked the short trail to the base of the towering gate. "Welcome to the Outrealm Gate. Care to visit another world?" The familiar red head said. Chrom gave a look to Robin.

"Yes…" Robin began. "Have there been any new realms recently?"

Anna tilted her head. "Yes, in fact. How'd you know?"

Robin frowned. "Doesn't matter. Could you open the gate to there? I think it's causing some problems in the mainland."

Anna's bright smile didn't falter. "No time for pleasantries? My, it feels like it's been ages since my _favorite_ business partners visited me."

"Every second might count." Robin replied. Anna went to fiddling with the gate, its blue light pulsating against the waning night. Behind him, the Shepherds readied themselves for whatever might be on the other side. Further in the distance was the thin strip of land that was Ylisse. Only the silhouettes of trees in the distance against the evening orange sky could be seen. The waters in between him and the country he'd recently taken to calling home were as still as the horizon, as if it were all only a painting of the actual thing.

Robin faced the gates once more, Anna smiling and gesturing a welcome invitation to step inside. Chrom sighed next to him, "I hope we can fix this," And stepped inside. In no particular order, they warily marched in to disappear into the light. Robin followed, fixating on the brightest point in the center of the swirling blue. It expanded with each step, encompassing his world with blinding white. The aquatic blue receded behind him, along with his world. Robin needn't walk anymore, he merely floated forward at a terrifying velocity. A speck of black pierced the light. Darkness grew just as the light had, expanding from the single point until it replaced all light. For a moment, Robin couldn't see anything. He stared ahead, hoping to not lose sight of where he would land, floating limply in the dark abyss until he finally saw something akin to floor tiles speeding toward him. Robin emerged into this new realm: A land of Risen, convoluted history, and everlasting dragons.


	4. Chapter 3: Judgement

Chapter 3

Judgement

Robin set foot on the tiles illuminated by the Outrealm's teal glow. The dark expanse before him resembled a cathedral of sorts, with large windows on each side wall and thick pillars rising from their base to the high ceiling above. However, some pillars were only crumbled heaps on the floor, and there was no sign of anyone but themselves. With these two signs he guessed this place had been recently abandoned.

The Shepherds paused in the silence, their shadows draping the floor in front of them. Chrom stepped down from the raised platform they'd landed on, creating loud bangs that echoed throughout the area with each step. Robin followed soon after, trying his best to discern the path ahead.

"So… where are we?" Vaike said. His booming voice easily carried through the empty hall.

"It looks kinda like our home… only… spookier." Lissa held her staff close to her chest. She veered off from the group to one of the non-dilapidated pillars. "Look, there's a weird knight statue."

Lon'qu joined in staring at the foreign knight. He said nothing, but looked it up and down as if it were an opponent.

"Stay focused." Chrom said. Their leader stared into the darkness ahead created by the overbearing light behind them, Frederick right at his side. "There could be anything or anyone waiting for us."

"Hmp." Vaike kicked a broken statue among some rubble. "Place looks abandoned to me. YO, anybody-"

"Shhhh!" Mirabelle flew into an exasperated, but hushed rage. "Do you wish to alert everyone to our presence?"

"Please, do you see anyone here?" Vaike said.

A sound suddenly echoed from the expanse. Everyone quieted, listening for another. Robin drew a tome and took to Chrom's left. When no other sound came for what seemed like minutes of peering into the dark, Robin whispered in a low voice. "Let's move. If we can find someone, maybe they'll know what's happening."

Chrom nodded. The Shepherds moved forward with short steps, wary now of the noise they made. Despite that, every patter of foot or horse hoof was amplified in the stillness. They crept on like that until the light behind them began to fade. Robin thought it was just them getting further away from the Gate, but when he stopped he realize the only light in the room was receding. Robin turned back to find the enormous portal, that didn't fit the surrounding décor at all, distorting from its usual calm pattern. The intense light began to turn pale, then pure white. The liquid material congealed together creating white clouds as all light dissipated. He didn't know what to make of it, and watched as it quickly disappeared.

"What the!?" Chrom noticed as well. The man threw stealth to the wind as he ran toward the only light source fading away before their eyes. Robin's mouth lay open as the light finally extinguished, leaving total darkness to consume his vision. Gasps filled the void.

"W-what the hell happened?" Vaike's voice cried out.

"I don't know!" Lissa's high pitched voice seemed farther away, where the pillar with the statue was. Robin blinked at the outlines moving about.

"Did the gate just close?" Tharja's voice sounded directly behind him. He wasn't exactly surprised.

Chrom uttered a curse. "Everyone, sound-off and re-Aagh!" The sound of metal and a body collapsing to the ground rang out.

"Chrom?" Robin said. He spun in every direction, feeling for where it'd come from.

"Apologies Milord, it appears I rushed to your aid too quickly." Frederick said. Robin noted that the stern voice wasn't the one on the floor.

"Agh… Give me some space." Chrom grunted as he got to his feet. By now, Robin could barely make out the shapes of his companions. The little moonlight that spilled through the west window was now the only light source, but it was enough. Frederick and Chrom were in front of him, Tharja directly behind. Lon'qu's height and Vaike's bulk were far off near some rubble, with Mirabelle trying to calm her stead that made more and more racket. There was one soldier missing. The silhouette of twin-tails was noticeably absent, but what truly alarmed him were the extra ones he did see. He could've mistaken them for posed statues he simply hadn't seen before, if not for the faint gleam of steel reflecting the window light.

"Arcfire!" Robin cast his hand toward the air above. A spray of red fire blasted from his open palm, revealing the area in a sheen of crimson. Several armed figures flanked the Shepherds. Robin was barely able to distinguish them from the many shadows the pillars created, not because they were trying to hide behind them, but because the soldiers themselves were nothing more than black shadows with an outline of dull blue. The spell fire dissipated in intensity within seconds of casting, plunging the room back into darkness.

He couldn't believe his eyes; he had to have been hallucinating. "Arc-" Robin began reigniting the only source of light he could make, but stopped. A thud hit the small of his cloaked back. Robin dropped his tome, eyes bursting wide at the bolt of numbing cold that spread throughout his body. He turned around to find not Tharja, but one of the blue silhouettes behind him. The small blade in one of its hand was dripping some sort of liquid. The little he could see began to twist and distort as the cold turned into hot, burning pain. His knees gave out just as a foot planted itself on his chest and easily kicked him to the ground. The last thing he felt was the dampness pouring out of the hole in his back, and the frantic shouts of—

"Ambush!"

2

"…in." The faint whisper seemed so far away. His eyes slowly cracked open to find that they'd become accustomed to the dark without him. Even so, he couldn't make out the blurred face staring down at him. It called out again. He grumbled as if he didn't want to wake up just yet. Though the bed was cold and hard, his aching body didn't want to rise from it.

"Robin!" The name pierced his head. Recognition flooded into his mind as the face revealed to be Lissa. He rose from the floor he laid on, only to be stopped by a flash of pain shooting from his back. Lissa put a hand to his shoulder. "Take it easy, I just healed that. I thought you were dead!"

"What… what happened?" Robin steadied his breath as he carefully took to his feet. He found himself standing right where he'd been stabbed, in the same empty hall. The shadows that'd attacked them were nowhere in sight, yet he didn't let that stop him from checking every dark corner for monsters.

Lissa's smile quickly disappeared. "We were ambushed. I think someone stuffed me behind some cover and I..." She twisted the grip on her stave, looking down at the floor. "I just stayed hiding. I couldn't see anything and when I peeked out, it was just you two on the ground." She nodded a head to where Mirabelle hovered over a slumped Vaike by one of the several pillars.

Robin glanced around the room, not quite believing things had turned this way in such a short time. When indeed no one else was in sight, either on the ground or standing, he with the help of his healer made to join Mirabelle and Vaike. "Did you hear anything? They must've been captured or…"

Green aura lit the room to blind Robin. He put up a hand to shield his tender eyes. "I've done all I can." Mirabelle sat on her legs in front of the warrior. She wiped her forehead and turned back to acknowledge their presence.

Vaike stirred where he sat above a pool of dark liquid, sending ripples throughout. He grunted at the slightest movement he took. "Gaah! Looks like I wasn't the only one who got blindsided. Not that it hurts that much." His cocky tone was still present.

"Riiiight. You need some rest, and plenty of it." Mirabelle said.

"Glad you two are alright." Robin said. He put a hand to rest on the pillar. His legs felt weak, but he managed to keep his balance.

"As if we wouldn't be!" Vaike said, his voice noticeably hoarse. His chest heaved as he held back from coughing. That's when Robin noticed the fresh scar just above the man's stomach.

"What happened?" Robin said, his tone grave. A moment of silence resounded. He wished he could at least hear birds outside, and began wondering just when sunrise would be.

Mirabelle sighed. "Everyone flew into battle; meanwhile my mount and I couldn't see anything. Next thing I know I'm thrown to the ground and my leg is being crushed by my own horse." She tosses a tired wave to the two horse corpses lying far off in a corner. Despite her words, there was undoubtedly a tinge of sadness in her voice. "Lissa, thank goodness, was unharmed and helped me out of it. This shirtless Oaf and you were the only people we found."

Robin gulped with a dry throat. A surge of anxiousness coursed through him at not knowing what became of the rest of the Shepherds. He internally cursed at himself for traveling to this strange place only to be taken by surprise so easily. Had he gone with Chrom's plan, things could've turned out differently.

"I took a couple down with me before I was sneak-attacked." Vaike said. He looked down to the spot on his torso. "Damn blade poked through my back all the way to the other side! Heh heh…" He chuckled, perhaps surprised at just how he was alive.

Robin thanked his blessings. They were alright, and the rest should be as well. "Good job Lissa. Can everyone walk?"

Lissa put a hand behind her head. "Oh, it was noth—"

"I can, just give me a sec." Vaike made to get up, but quickly slumped back to the floor with a grunt.

"Oh no you can't!" Mirabelle scolded. "You need to sit still if you don't want your lung to tear in two."

Robin nodded to himself. He released his hand from the pillar and found he could stand on his own. "Ok… we'll wait here until Vaike recovers, then search the area."

"Like hell you will." Vaike said. "I'm all for keeping together, but you can't wait. It might be too late by then." His boisterous tone was completely gone, replaced with seriousness that just didn't fit him. "Go on, I'll be right here when you bring 'em back."

"He's right." Mirabelle said. "I'm afraid he won't be able to walk let alone fight for…" She faded off, the words she had said lingering between the four of them.

Robin picked up the unspoken message, and hoped that it wasn't as severe as it seemed. He didn't want to admit it, but they were right. "Alright, you stay with him. Lissa, you come with me."

"Fine," Mirabelle said. "Somebody needs to babysit him anyway."

"I don't need any of ya! Go on!" Vaike said, waving one arm in a dismissal. Mirabelle stayed sitting on the floor next to her patient.

Lissa was staring sullenly at the fallen warrior. "You two be safe."

Vaike gave up trying to ward off Maribelle, and put one thumb up toward the pair. "Go rescue our pals."

Robin and Lissa started toward where the hall opened into more darkness. He didn't look back; already busy at working out how many soldiers he alone could take down with only a healer to back him up. The Outrealm Gate stood empty; its stone frame around two grand statues and one empty pedestal that had been hidden behind it.

3

Devoid of any windows, the much longer hall they stepped into was pitched in an even more intense darkness. Light could be seen far away on the opposite end, along with silhouettes that told of structures on either side of the hall. Robin walked straight down the middle, Lissa clinging to one of his sleeves frantically watching every direction at once. This place was just as empty as the previous, but Robin knew that didn't mean they were alone. The panic caused by the Gate closing must've masked the sound of those… _things_ creeping up on them. Although, it was entirely possible they'd been there ever sense they arrived. If he couldn't see them coming, he'd have to just rely on hearing them.

Robin's sleeve was tugged, Lissa pointing to their right. They stopped their already slow pace. "I think those are stairs," she whispered. "Where should we look first?"

Robin turned to put a finger to his lips, hoping she could see the gesture of silence. He briefly imagined her pouting in the dark behind him. She didn't say anything more however, and they kept walking down the hard tiled floor. Nothing but their own steps echoed throughout the silence, all the way until they reached the end of the hall. The giant doorway dwarfed anything in Ylisstol, as if made for giants rather than men. The grand architecture didn't stop at just the doors, as they soon discovered.

"Wow…" They both were awed at the sight before them. The blue moon light spilled freely outside, draping over the many buildings that rose from the unseen ground. A great dam stood built into the mountains in the distance, encapsulating the beautifully crafted cityscape in a circular bowl. Every buttress and tower rose from a circular body to a fine spike that adorned their roofs. Steps led down to a bridge which was missing a middle section, making the path forward impassable. What was strange, among all these sights, was the fact that not a single soul could be seen yet every structure appeared to be in pristine condition. This place was a ghost town.

"'Go find our pals', well that's a lot easier said than done…" Robin muttered to himself, both amazed and dismayed.

"Uhh… Well they haven't left this building for sure." Lissa said. She pointed toward the broken bridge. Robin grimaced, not exactly knowing why he was disappointed. Something immediately struck him as he took a second glance at the bridge. The gap in between the construction seemed… intentional. It was by design, but how could that be? Unless…

A resounding rumble broke the silence of the city. They shared worried glances. It was coming from the bridge below them. A platform literally rose from below to fill the empty space in the bridge. It elevated higher until it synced perfecting with each end of the bridge. When it came to a rest, Robin began to descend the steps with Lissa following behind. "Robin, slow down!" She called. Without his knowledge, he was flying down the stairs despite his recent wound. He knew this was where they went, it had to be.

He rushed onto the platform, only to stop in his tracks when a shadow drew its blade. The roof which draped much of the dais in darkness concealed the figure and the strange mechanism it was standing next to in the center. The outline's sharp edges told of armor. "So... It was you, was it? How dare you produce a blade upon a deity? How did you ever get this far? I would end your suffering here and now, if not for my master's mercy. What you saw under light of the Darkmoon shall haunt you forever." A female voice said.

Chills ran down Robin's back as the female knight began walking around the gap in between them. "Wait, what are you talking about!" No use, she kept marching, picking up speed as her armor caught the light to reveal its features. Brown brass from head to metallic leg guards, a thin fencing estoc in one hand pointed directly at him. Robin whipped out a tome and yelled its name. "Fire!" The red ball flung from his hand to explode the floor in front of him. The knight flew to one side in a clunky roll, dodging the spell and continuing to close the distance.

Robin was no warrior, no knight or duelist. Just by a glance, he knew if he allowed this woman to close in, it would be over. One good hit, he knew he could take one good hit. Robin stood his ground, hurling another fireball not where she was, but where he thought she would roll. It whiffed drastically off from where she was, yet her reflex betrayed her. She dodged left, smacking right into the spell to be blasted back in a devastating explosion. Robin smiled ever so lightly at the successful hit. The armored woman lay on the ground for only a second before getting back to her feet. The smell of ash wafted from the two black marks on the tile floor.

Her stance seemed to speak a silent taunt. _That's not going to work twice._

The pause gave him the one chance of diplomacy he thought he'd get. "Who are you? Why have you attacked us? We aren't looking for a fight." He took a step forward, ready to toss another spell.

The woman was silent. Her hand quickly disappeared behind her to pull a white talisman out of her belt. With one smooth motion, she glided it across her blade while uttering some sort of spell. The estoc turned from an ordinary weapon to a sparkling rod of blue luminescence. Not the most intimidating of weapons… but she held it threateningly enough to warrant respect. "How ignorant criminals plead to their executioners… Your words mean nothing." She ran at him again.

Robin gave up trying to end this peacefully. He switched tomes, seeing as the fire did little but knock her down. "You're finished!" The tips of his fingers tingled at the electricity charging in his hand. "Thunder!" He released the small mass of lightning bolts toward his enemy. Much faster than the last spell, it collided with the Knight's armor before she could even react. She flinched, only a few steps away, then charged forward again. Robin back pedaled as she drew closer, unfazed by the amount of energy that had coursed through her body. "Thun-" He was silenced by a swift cut across his chest.

He fell backward, Lissa crying out something as the book in his hand split in two. The knight pointed the tip of her glowing sword dangerously close to his throat as she hovered over him. He subconsciously checked his torso to find it unscathed. He blinked in utter shock at the ineffectiveness of his spell.

"A pyromancer, and a man of faith?" She said. He thought he could see her eyes through her helmet's eye slits narrowing as they stared downward. "What strange spells you've acquired. Pillaged from your previous killings, I have no doubt."

Robin shook his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about! Would you hear us out before accusing me of murder?" He threw his hands in surrender where he lay on the ground. She took his collar in her empty hand and pulled him into a hostage stance, the glowing blade mere inches from his throat. He swore he could feel it burning his neck without even touching him.

"You there." The knight turned toward Lissa with the tactician in her grip. The healer had been keeping a safe distance, ready to heal him if he'd been hit. "We're going down below. You will have the honor of meeting your judge before justice be cast upon you."

4

The circular room they were 'escorted' into was much humbler than the spacious halls above. Dozens of statues similar to the ones on the pillars lined the walls, watching eternally over the rectangles of dull green stone at their feet. The entire area ( _Was this a tomb?_ ) was bathed in not blue, but a radiant orange from the bright fire pit in the center. The only exits were directly behind him, back to the strange elevating platform, and in front of him, which led further down into who knows where.

Robin, still held at a blade's mercy, took short steps with his arms held unthreateningly in the air. Lissa did the same, worry plastered on her usually bright features. The Knightess at their backs urged them forward passed the bonfire that lit this room, but not before Robin could notice its true appearance. In reality it was no fire at all, but a listless mass of rotating teeth. He wondered if it would remain in existence forever, given it had no obvious fuel source as it rested on a pile of ashes with only a twisted sword stabbed at its core. He had no time to ponder this, but catalogued it as another bizarre sight of this strange Outrealm.

A shove pushed him onward. "Move." He blinked to find he'd been staring at the 'flames' for more than a few seconds. The armored knight jabbed at his back, as if he were cattle being prodded into the slaughter house.

They proceeded past the fire, a corpse that seemed long dead, and a single man-sized vase that just stood on the left side of the thin hall they were now entering. They entered and began descending the steps to where—

A crash came from behind. "Oops…" A familiar voice muttered. Robin looked back to see the vase suddenly shattered with pieces still spinning on the ground.

"Chrom!" Lissa yelled next to him. Robin swiftly turned back around to see all of the missing Shepherds sitting on the floor below. He could feel a wave of relief hit him for only a second, before realizing that the shadows that'd attacked them now surrounded them again.

Now he could see them for what they truly were. They were beings of pure darkness with a thin azure tint outlining their armor. There was no obvious uniform to their weapons or armor. Some were cloaked in only light robes; some dawned in heavy chest pieces that resembled rock walls. No matter what weapon they had in hand, each one was pointed at his friends kneeling in the center.

"Lissa! You're ok, thank the gods." Chrom shouted from where he sat facing away from them.

"Silence!" A roar came from seemingly nowhere, encompassing the cramped space in vibrating echoes. The Knightess sat them down with the rest of the Shepherds. Everyone was scratched up, but otherwise unharmed.

Chrom turned around fully. "(Robin, you're ok too.)" He whispered. His eyes scanned the heads that were pointed at him for leadership. "Where are…"

Robin shook his head, but winked as he did so. He fought the urge to smile, knowing everyone was ok. He didn't actually know if Chrom got the message as the prince turned away to face the front.

They sat facing a pure white fog that blocked a tall doorway. With shadow soldiers at their sides, a spell casting knight behind them, and this mysterious fog, Robin was not surprised at all when the fog began to speak.

"No longer shalt thou plead for thine life. All of your fates were sealed when you tarnished the Godmother's image." The voice that emanated from the fog was feminine, powerful with anger in every eloquently pronounced syllable. Robin peered into the heavy fog, desperately searching for the answer to why all of this was happening. A mix of expressions passed over the Shepherds, some fearful, some confused as Robin was.

"For the last time, I have no idea what you are saying! We have done nothing since we've arrived here only moments ago. This is a misunderstand—" A punch from one of the shadow guards sent Chrom reeling to the floor. Frederick immediately rose from his seat, before being persuaded back down with several spears pointed only hairs away from his neck. Robin had an image suddenly painted in his mind. An image of all of them being executed here and now, not even knowing for what reason. Chrom made to get up as well, when Robin stopped him with a hand to his , surrounded: the worse combat situation imaginable come to life.

 _We'll be slaughtered._

Chrom must've seen what Robin was trying to convey. He sat down with clenched fists and the same frustrated glare. He must've been speaking with this thing for some time.

Robin realized that this may be beyond even the charismatic prince, and spoke in his stead. "We've come from a faraway land. We are ignorant of what you say… uh…" Robin's attempt at sounding formal fell apart. He didn't know what to call this thing.

"Thou who speaketh the same lies, I am Gwyndolin. Pray thee is satisfied, fore it shalt be the only ignorance I correct." The fog did not waver or change in anyway. It was thick and stubborn.

"What do you want with us?" Frederick kept a cold stare primed at the voice.

"Insolence." This voice, Gwyndolin, grew a distinct octave in frustration. "Thou'st band of lowly raiders traverse the city of the gods, destroy the last tinge of hope for any and all inhabitants, and then claim to know not of what thou hast done. I cannot fathom…" She grew silent. Robin bit his lip. The surmounting anger that steadily rose in the entity's voice was akin to a volcano awaiting eruption. It also began sounding more and more masculine.

 _Think of something Think of something Think of something…_

"The Outrealm Gate." Robin whispered to himself, hoping this truly was what he needed. "All of your soldiers saw it, that gate in the upper cathedral. It doesn't fit any of the architecture in this whole city, so it wasn't here before we arrived, right? And how did we sneak into this city until now? Isn't it possible we aren't lying? That we traveled here through that portal?"

A pause came and went within but a moment, but Robin knew that was an accomplishment. This thing could be reasoned with.

 _Logic, oh sweet merciful logic._

When she/it/the thing spoke again, it wasn't directed at them. "Firekeeper… my most loyal blade, thou witnessed the capture of these humans. Doth he speaketh the truth?" It'd calmed somewhat. Only somewhat.

The knight that'd captured Robin knelt down behind them, the hall too crowded to allow her to reach the front. "…There was an oddity just below the Godmother's chambers. A Gate of unusual design. I know not of how or when it appeared, but these assailants were bumbling about in front of it when we arrived."

The fog appeared to mull this over, leaving the tension to sit and stagnate. No one moved. "And no one else was found in the chambers?"

The Knightess replied quickly. "High and low, there were no others."

Robin's confidence fizzled. "W-what does that matter? What happened in the chambers?"

"It matters not what sorcery thou hast used to travel here," the voice began low and brewing, but quickly rose in volume, "No matter what goal thou'st had in committing such a heinous crime, the sun over Anor Londo has been extinguished eternally until the end of time itself, and justice must be dealt!" Echoes reverberated once more through the thin hall. The voice took a slight pause, all doubt replaced by a stubbornness that was unyielding. "Death… would only be a temporary punishment for such depraved undead. No, while thou art in the grip of justice, know too my suffering of never-ending, inescapable darkness. My blades, cast these fools where they will never see true light again. Cast them into the Painted World of Ariamis."

"Undead?" Robin said, but it seemed that this thing had stopped listening.

All at once movement erupted from the soldiers surrounding them. They swiftly took each Shepherd at blade point and pulled them back up the steps. Robin heard Chrom yelling, pleading for some kind of answer as they too were dragged away from this deity of false judgment.

5

Robin had sparingly thought of death in his life. Sure, in the heat of battle he sometimes believed his time was up, but he'd never pondered too heavily on the subject. Being surrounded by friends helped to ignore those kinds of horrors of war. Yet as he, along with said friends, stood at the base of this monstrous painting, for just a split second he wondered if death would've been a better sentence for the imaginary crime he'd committed. That thought came and went just as fast. It was ludicrous to think such a thing, that anything would be worse than death. Death was the end, after all.

 _And what if it wasn't?_

He wasn't one for art, but that was what he thought of when looking at the black and white canvas. A fortress sat atop a forested hill with only a single bridge as its means of entrance. A painting of an intimidating prison, yet the soldiers surrounding him acted as if they were prodding him into a real cell. The Shepherds were lined single file, Robin the last. The Knightess walked to the very base of the painting, pulled something from her pocket and pressed it against the canvas. Her hand retracted just as a vortex of black was born, sucking in the very air around them. The armored woman grabbed the first Shepherd, Chrom, and guided him to be thrown into this portal. Each Shepherd was systematically thrown forward to be gulped up and disappear. When it came Robin's turn, he looked one last time to the Knightess. Her expression was completely hidden under her helmet, but he imagined she was grinning with utmost pleasure. Justice was being served.

He thought of pleading just one last time, or maybe asking what they had done in the first place, but knew it to be futile anyway. He shut his mouth, and was pushed into the painting just as all the others. The black ink consumed him. It was freezing to the touch and pulled with such force that he thought it'd tear him apart. This was no gate, no portal, but a living creature that wanted to trap any and all in its paint. Robin joined the others, and the countless prisoners before themselves in the dark vacuum for which he prayed had an ending.


	5. Chapter 4: Gravity

Chapter 4

Gravity

"Nobody move a muscle!" Chrom's voice ruled over the many gasps of his fellow soldiers. Robin shot his eyes open, unaware that they'd be clenched so tightly. His heart immediately spiked as he found an endless chasm of black under his feet.

"AAAA!" He grasped for anything he could as he shouted. He found the rough texture of rotted rope in his grip. When he didn't fall immediately, he realized that a thin bridge was between him and the abyss. And it was packed with scrambling shepherds.

A sprawling mountain range rose from the darkness tipped with white snow on their peaks. This single bridge they now clung to led to one such mountain that housed many trees flaked with snow, as well as the hints of a structure beyond. This immediately confirmed what he'd already had been expecting, yet surprised him nonetheless.

"The painting… we're…" Robin gasped to catch his breath. The full moon shined a brilliant pale white, alone in the cloudless sky. Behind Robin were remnants of rope with no wood to speak of, leaving only one direction as an option. Before he could even finish his thought, the distinct snap of wood pierced his ears.

"Whoa!" Frederick's tall figure suddenly dipped below eye level as a plank of wood broke in two and fell away. The bridge shook violently, sending Robin almost careening off with the side where he had been leaning on the taut rope. He balanced himself, spreading his weight evenly on the worn wood.

"Frederick! Come on get up, we have to get off this thing." Chrom yelled, pulling the armored giant back onto the bridge. He began creeping forward, waving to for them to march. The bridge danced as every shepherd began tiptoeing: Chrom, Frederick, Lon'qu, Tharja, and Lissa with Robin the last. The bridge dipped wherever the middle of the line walked. The constant creaking warned that the entire structure could snap at any moment. Every missing board produced by the soldiers in front made a wide hole leading to a sure death.

Robin never let go of the ropes. He slowly guided his feet over every missing plank, some missing three at a time. The trees ahead grew closer with each step. Chrom pulled himself to land first, helping the heavy Frederick up. The bridge's ropes immediately slacked in tension. Robin sighed at the worst being over, and focused on simply placing one foot in front of the other.

There was a considerable gap between where him and Lissa, who was brazenly scrambling for her brother's outstretched hand. "That was a little too close! Frederick you need to lose some pounds." She said.

Robin audibly cleared his throat, a single drop of sweat streaking down his forehead. "Uh… I'm still out here you know!"

There were just a few more feet to go to meet the panting Shepherds. Chrom stretched out, leaning on one of the wooden posts that held the rope. "Well hurry up then. Grab my hand!" He spoke with some concern, but the relief was evident in his tone. Robin was not so relieved, still being barely held up by a bridge with more cracked boards than solid ones. The last stretch was missing many of them, but Chrom's hand met the distance half way. Robin didn't dare look down.

He jumped. His foot met resistance, but that resistance fell away just as soon as pressure was put on. The dreadful pit of quickly welled in his stomach as the sense of falling made him tense every muscle. A strong grip clasped onto his arm and jerked him to a stop. He hovered there staring at the darkness below, how the dirt sort of just vanished into it as well as whatever else fell in. He began rising with grunts coming from above.

Chrom pulled him up with some assistance by Lon'qu. Robin picked a spot in the snow and laid his back on it wide eyed and still terrified. It was cold, but very welcome. "T-thanks."

Chrom shook his head slightly. He was bent over, hands on knees. "Heh, I can't tell if I'm somewhat out of shape or you've gained some weight under those robes." He chuckled slightly, gazing out to the now semi-destroyed bridge.

Frederick stood at attention, a tiny ounce of fear still in his usual stern demeanor. "Yes well, it seems I was the one to almost fall to my peril. You have my thanks, Milord."

"I can attest to that." Tharja flipped a blade of dark hair out of her eyes, glaring at the knight. "Almost took us all with him."

"I fit myself with the lightest gear with the highest defense. I can assure you I hold no excess baggage under this." Frederick said. There was an ever so slight hint of accusation under the words.

Tharja glare turned a darker shade. "Oh? You're calling me fat? At least I didn't try to cling to the prince and take him down with me. You reek of fear." She spat.

Frederick furrowed his brow. "I… it was a reflex. I'd never do something so vein as to risk Milords life for my own! I'd gladly-"

"Enough." Chrom said. "We have bigger problems than gravity right now. Like where we are."

Everyone stopped and looked around, as though noticing it for the first time. With the gasps and creaking and arguing gone, this place was… entirely still. Not a sound. Robin heard his thumping heart slow down. There was no wind at all, and the air itself still and cold but not freezing. It was like a sealed butcher's backroom. Robin surprised himself when a he imagined himself being slung upside-down, trapped like a piece of meat.

 _I guess that is what we are right now. Trapped._

He looked back out toward the way they came in. There was no sign of a portal or gate, only a destroyed bridge leading to a far off mountain. The gap was too large to ever cross, and even if they did reach that other mountain, he doubted that it led back to that strange city. And that led to the next problem of how they were ever going to overpower an entire room of white cloaked ninjas and squad of blue shadow soldiers. He had no knowledge on these enemies, on the location of this inner world within the painting or the one outside… He was completely in the dark.

 _ **CRACK**_

Robin along with everyone jerked their heads back toward the bridge. The sound was more than just a few boards breaking. The rope on the two tall posts sprung and ripped with sudden tension. Already, Robin could see strings pop off and curl from the thick threads. He stood up, gazing out to find nothing of note that could cause this. But gazing just a little longer, a sort of glimmer reached his eyes far in the distance. It was a shine from the moonlight that reflected where the source of the sound had come from. He turned to Chrom, who was wearing the exact same expression of puzzlement on his pale face.

They spoke at the same instance, hushed as though it couldn't possibly be true. "…Kellam?"

"AAAAAAAAAAA!" Kellam screamed.

"Yup, that's Kel- OH NO KELLAM!" Lissa burst.

A blinding glimmer of moonlight faded to reveal the hulking mass of armor dangling on a mere two wooden planks. Out of all the things he'd seen in less than a few hours, he was left dumbfounded by this. He snapped out of the stupor, though, as the two posts began uprooting from the sheer weight. "Grab them!" He said, quickly heeding his own order.

Chrom grabbed the other, Frederick and Lissa adding their strength. Robin felt Tharja's nails dig into his hips as the wooden post still threatened to dig in. The rope burn began to eat at his non-calloused hands and turn them from a white to burning red. "Kellam! Hurry!" He shouted.

The distant mass of metal began making the journey. Robin thought he heard sounds coming from that direction, but his own grunts mixed with that of the others drowned out any response. His effort was doing little as the post continued to bend. He determined that it would snap in two very, very quickly. Chrom's team seemed to be fairing much better. If only they had two Fredericks at their disposal…

A rope sprang free from the post, lashing out at the speed of lightning. It licked the air right by his cheek with deadly velocity, blasting the air around him. He closed his eyes, focused on the task at hand, and hoped that rope wasn't important. When he reopened them, Kellam was still there, just a few inches closer as he bobbed up and down. The rope was still by his cheek, though it was strung taught again.

Turns out, it was important. Lon'qu slung the large thread over his shoulder and planted his feet in the opposite direction. He dug his feet into the shallow snow, slowly losing ground toward the open air cliff. The bridge dipped left, but didn't completely flip as it would have had it not been caught.

Kellam was close now, but with every step he came closer, so did the intensity of the weight. Incomprehensible yelling could now be heard, and Robin was treated to the sight of him juggling his foot placement and grip on the bridge as though he were a dancer. _Just a little closer._ Robin grew quiet. Just as the post slipped from its last hold onto solid ground, he locked his knees and pulled back with as much force as he could. Tendons stretched, soring pain shot through his arms, he slipped closer and closer to the edge. "Jump!" He heard Chrom's voice shout. Robin open his eyes for confirmation of safety, but found the sudden slack in weight a more immediate tell of what Kellam just did. Robin fell back with the now uprooted post onto a bony but warm cushion. Tharja pushed him off of her as the rest of the Shepherds fell back as well.

Chrom dangled off the edge with his legs shooting into the sky. Frederick hugged the legs close to his chest, desperately trying to cling to the prince. Robin tried to rise, but his arms only responded with a shock of pain all the way to his shoulders. Lon'qu recovered, however, and helped them up. The top of Kellam's armor peaked over the edge before his hand did. The swordsman grabbed it, and in another feat of strength hoisted him up.

A second wave of relief washed through the soldiers. Everyone laid once more, an added member he hadn't accounted for now in their presence. Kellam scooched away from the edge, catching his voice which was hoarse with yelling. "Aaa… Phew… Uh… Hay… guys…" The second post snapped, letting the entire bridge vanish below.

"Hi Kellam." Robin said. He let the back of his head drop to the soft snow.

2

There it was again. Orange hues softly radiated from the mysterious dancing tendrils of fire. Except it wasn't fire at all, but a mere imitation of the idea. It was a representation. Yet Robin could feel the heat, stare into the light, and smell the ashes that seemed to fuel it. It was exactly the same mysterious magic that was near that fog deity, Gwyndolin. That was how he knew they weren't in an entirely different realm. It gave him just an ounce of hope.

"… Robin?" Lissa said, sitting just a few feet on top of a small rock. Robin blinked away the spots in his vision. He'd been staring at the light a few more seconds than he had intended. Most of the Shepherds sat around the fire they had found shortly up the one path that lay before them. The stairs had been a hassle, but everyone found this resting spot rather… invigorating. "You sure you don't want me to heal you? You looked like you tore your arms off back there."

Robin flexed his hand into a fist. "No, thanks. I actually feel fine…" He tasted the words in his mouth. He had been all but silent in agonizing pain from his two limp arms just a few minutes ago. A hunch began to form, but decided he could follow up on it later. He still needed a moment for his head to catch up with the situation.

"Alright," Chrom began, "everyone's okay and accounted for?"

"Not Vaike and Mirabelle! They're still back there in that first room." Lissa said. Her worry was earnest, not that Robin expected any less.

"They're ok though right?" Chrom turned to Robin for confirmation.

"Yes, Vaike is pretty injured however. If they were to be found, I'm not sure he'd be able to put up a fight." Robin gave the truth without much sugar coating. "Also… I believe they killed the horses." He looked to where Frederick was sitting cross legged. He didn't respond with any noticeable reaction.

"Then we'll just have to hurry and find our way out of… wherever this is." Chrom looked around. Above him, a lone raven cawed atop an impaled corpse. So far, this was the only living thing they'd seen.

Tharja sat below them as though they were merely part of the scenery. "Why am I not surprised the game plan is to charge ahead?"

"There _is_ only one path." Lissa pointed out, literally pointing to the set of stairs that led up and into the beginning of the actual fortress. "I doubt we can go back through where we got here…"

As if on que, all heads turned to the glimmering armor sitting furthest away. "W-what?" Kellam's closed eyes took on one of confusion.

"How DID you even get here? I could have sworn you went to go see your family for the season." Lissa said. She seemed more curious than accusatory.

Kellam was speechless for a moment. "Oh, I did. It was great to see the family again, but… well old habits soon returned. They didn't seem to notice me after a week. I'm sure they didn't mean to." He shrugged. "I've been with you guys ever sense we got news of that Risen attack! Well, I couldn't really get in the battle… but I was there! And then we went through the Outrealm Gate, and… guys?"

Robin had subconsciously been tilting his head at this story. "So… you didn't help when we got ambushed?"

"Of course I did! Well… when we dropped our weapons, they didn't take me as prisoner for some reason..." The large man put a gloved finger to his chin. "I went with you, Robin, but you got taken before I could catch up to you. This armor is really heavy."

"So we've noticed." Tharja piped up, gesturing back toward the bridge.

"I didn't know there was going to be a broken down bridge when I jumped in!" Kellam said.

Robin pinched the skin above his nose. How had he let such a powerful defensive asset slip his mind? That's when it hit him. "You jumped in… after us?"

Kellam responded immediately. "Well yea. I couldn't just leave you guys, especially when you don't have these." He reached inside his suit and pulled out several weapons. He dropped an iron lance, killing edge, and the legendary Falchion in a clumsy pile near the bonfire.

Chrom's eyes lit up. He picked up Falchion in one hand and inspected the blade with another. "I had nearly forgotten. You have my thanks." Frederick took the lance, while Lon'qu strapped the sword to his belt.

Kellam waved a hand in dismissal. "It was nothing. I couldn't find any tomes for you, Robin. Sorry."

The tactician whipped out the fire tome he had managed to hide. "It's fine." Tharja clutched her own spells to her chest. "Tharja… why didn't they disarm you?"

She didn't meet his gaze. "Does it matter? I guess they underestimated my-"

"They mistook her for an escort." Lon'qu said. The announcement hanged in the air for some time.

Tharja held a clenched fist. "They will pay for their insolence! I don't know what possessed them to think me some sort of… Ugh. I don't give off such an impression." Even though it wasn't a question, she looked toward Robin as if he had an answer.

"…" Robin rubbed the back of his neck and found a rock to stare at. Everyone looked off in some random direction, no one wanting to say it.

"I don't give off such an impression… Right!" Tharja said, nearly yelling it. Robin felt her gaze was a curse in of itself.

"What? No way!" Robin waved his hands in a blur to knock away any notion that he thought differently. He got up and backed away toward the steps down where they had come from. "I'm going to go double check if we missed anything, be right back." And so he turned and made a hasty escape.

Behind him, Kellam's voice spoke warily. "W-well… you do show a lot of skin." Robin quickened his pace.

 _Naga have mercy on you._

The steps going down were narrow, walled in by snow and bushy trees on both sides. He slowed down when the shouting was far away enough to think. With the addition of their designated tank, a few weapons and the return of their morale, they had a much better chance of getting out here. That was the goal; he didn't bother trying to think of how to fix the problems they had originally traveled here for. Survival of his troops was always number one. Although, those civilians back in that village may not be able to hold out if they can't get out of here soon.

"Earth to Robin?"

"Wha?" Robin blinked to find Lissa poking his side with her stave. He'd stopped dead in the middle of descending the path. "Oh, just you. Now's not the time for pranks." He continued downward.

She tapped her stave onto the steps as she followed. "I know when the time for pranking is, and poking isn't a prank. You seem really out of it recently… what gives?"

Robin kept walking. "I… have a lot on my mind right now."

"When do you not." Lissa said. "It's not like this is the worst situation we've faced together." Her tone was optimistic, despite what she was referring to.

The end to the stairs came soon enough. He didn't notice any changes immediately. "You may be right, but there are too… many… strange…" He stared at what he thought to be a mirage.

"Huh…" Lissa said beside him. In front of them was no mirage. Maybe it was just overload of the strange that they were desensitized to the point where they merely accepted that 'yup, this is happening'.

The bridge that had previously been destroyed and lost to the void below now stood right where it had been, as though time itself had been rewound, or maybe even reverted back to a previous state that existed before they had even arrived.


	6. Chapter 5: Pure-White

Chapter 5

Pure-White

Blue. Blue and black. Black and blue. The grandiose waiting room had exactly two colors: the black that seemed glued to the fanciful workings on the walls and ceiling, and the blue that spilled through the giant windows to provide the only dim source of light. Time was a very loose goose here. A minute dragged on for hours, yet the moonlight never turned to day. In fact, it never even moved or waned or waxed. It was exactly the same as it had been since…since…

"Uuuuuughhh…" The moan to Vaike's right didn't belong to any Risen, though it resembled a hungry one. "How long are those two going to take?"

Damn, he had almost gotten some sleep. "I hope you're not thinking anything unsavory. Robin would never make a move on your darling Lissa in this crud we're in."

"I'm more worried he got them both in danger instead of keeping her safe." Mirabelle didn't sound amused. She sat just to his left, resting her back on the pillar just as he was. Even her golden locks were steeped in blue and made boring.

"This place blows. Let's head back to Ylisse. Maybe hit up a bar." Vaike said. His voice didn't carry much in the open space. He was hell a thirsty.

Mirabelle threw an open palm to the Outrealm Gate in the shadows. "Be my guest, I'm sure you know exactly how to work that thing. Is blood loss getting to your head?"

Vaike thought about that for a second. He'd almost forgotten about the black puddle he sat in. Even though the uppity healer had closed off the nasty wound on his back and stomach, he thought it could be possible that he was just a tiny bit loopy from blood loss. His silence seemed to actually worry her.

"…well just keep still, ok? There's only so much a stave can heal." She said.

That was exactly what he didn't want to hear. "I can move if I want. Hell, I could take a rematch from any of those back-stabbing, ambushin', no-good dirty assassin people!" He brought a fist up, struggled to keep it in the air, and eventually let it fall to his side. _This is pathetic_.

Mirabelle stood up then, dusting imaginary dust from her pink pants. "Good point. Let's get you up and hiding somewhere not so conspicuous…" She put a hand to her eyes as though to shade them. Vaike couldn't help but wonder if this was some sort of act or she was serious.

"I don't need no hiding spot, lady." He said.

"I wouldn't call it a hiding spot… more like a… secluded area for recovery." She said.

"Call it whatever you want, it's coward-like." Vaike straightened his back on the pillar, puffing out his bare chest. He immediately regretted this. He turned away clenching his teeth together from the searing pain that had reawaken in the small of his back.

The vixen saw through his show of pride as if it was a see-through brassiere. "Sure… Why don't you try standing up then, my valiant warrior?"

 _Oh I'll show you valiant._ Vaike began rising to his feet. He'd expected the girl to try to help him, and he have to refuse her, but she only stood and watched with some demonic sense of amusement. One hand on the pillar, a million bees stinging his stomach and back, and boom, he was on his feet no problem. He spread his other arm, presenting the amazing feat to his doubtful companion. "See? All I need is my axe and an opponent and I'll-"

A sound. A footstep. Vaike turned his ear toward the only entrance to hear a steady beat coming from it. "Sounds like they're back." He said nonchalantly.

He faced Mirabelle once more to find her grabbing his hand. "Come on."

"What?"

"(I said come on!)" Her voice had turned to a whisper as she stared past him toward the giant doorway. "(You're up, now get moving!)" She tugged with a surprising amount of force that threatened to throw him back toward the tiled floor.

He went along with it, moving some feet with her toward the Outrealm Gate, until he figured out what she was thinking. "Hay wait a second, I'm not running away if they're enemies."

Mirabelle turned around with enough red in her face to be noticeable even in the dark. "(I've just about had enough of this! I'm trying to be sensitive about your injuries, but you're too stubborn a fool to be treated like a child. You fight like this, and you will die!)"

Vaike grimaced. The footsteps were growing louder by the second. "Then you go hide. I got a score to settle." He popped his knuckles and stiff neck. It sounded like only two sets of feet, anyway. He'd mop the floor with them no problem. Now just where was his axe…

Mirabelle planted her somewhat shorter figure in his searching peripheral. She stared at him for some odd seconds with similar stubbornness. The Vaike was confused. "What are ya doin'? Go on."

"As your healer, I will not stand by and let you kill yourself. You fight, I fight too." She jabbed a thumb to her chest. Whispering was forgotten.

Vaike's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Aww come on, don't play that card! You don't even have your horse."

"What's it going to be?"

The unknown footfalls were growing closer, but also rising to their elevation with a sickening monotony. Vaike mentally groaned, but came very close to doing so out loud.

 _I AM acting like a child._

Whether a bluff or not, Vaike wasn't about to call it and risk getting her dragged into his foolishness. He turned around and began walking away from the doorway. He tripped up on his own feet, nearly falling face first if Mirabelle hadn't swooped in and slung one of his arms around her shoulder. They wordlessly made their way at tortoise speed. The Gate had some cover behind it, but they'd be cornered. The pillars wouldn't hide much if the enemy simply walked at a different angle, either. They eventually found a tiny hall in the far left corner. Away from the moonlight, this tiny room was much darker. Mirabelle dumped him against a wall and crouched on the opposite one, peeking out into the previous room.

Vaike had to catch his breath at merely walking the short distance. He clutched the dark scar on his stomach to find it wet. Thankfully, Mirabelle was focused elsewhere. Along with his greedy intakes of air, another rickety sound filled the darkness. It wasn't the footsteps, which were still far off, but a much closer metallic pinging. That was when motion caught his eye in the dark.

He couldn't make it out very well, but he swore that every time the pings got closer, a sort of… saucer, plate, disc thing lowered itself to cover a hole in the ground a few feet away. Then, it rose into the wall and disappeared. Vaike stared at it a little longer to find that it had a set pattern.

"Pssst." Mirabelle caught the man's attention. "I don't think its Robin and Lissa…" She pointed a silhouetted finger.

Vaike scooched to the corner of the wall, a tiny indention that was perfect cover, and peeked out. Pillars guarded much of the expanse from view, but he caught sight of two figures moving between them. One was large with black armor with an over-compensating sword and shield. The skinnier one had just as large a shield, though Vaike could make out just the hints of white flesh in between gray metal. They weren't anybody he knew, but they weren't the blue soldiers who attacked them earlier.

"(You think they're friendly?)" Vaike said.

"(I'm more inclined to believe everyone in this place is trying to kill us.)" Mirabelle put a knuckle to her mouth. They both watched as the mystery soldiers shuffled about in the room. They didn't speak at all, not even in a mumbled whisper as Vaike and Mirabelle were. They were searching for something.

The skinny one stopped at the pillar Vaike had been only minutes ago. It simply stared for some seconds, before disappearing behind another. The soldier popped up closer to them, then disappeared again. Vaike realized that it was steadily following the same path they had. He looked to the ground to find specks of fresh red on the fine tile floor. It was his blood.

"(It's coming toward us!)" Maribelle said. She crawl-walked to Vaike's side of the room and hugged the wall with her back.

Vaike nodded his head in the darkness. "(My blood trail… he's following it straight to us.)" He got to his feet once more. Pressing himself deep into his corner, he prepared an ambush. The footsteps became louder, more distinct with the distance between him and it growing closer. "(I'll tackle it, you grab his weapon.")

A crash drowned out Mirabelle's reply. It echoed several seconds after, but was followed with another and then another. The footsteps that had been steadily walking toward them were now sprinting away. Vaike furrowed his brow and took a peek outside once again. Directly to the left from where they hid were the same two figures against the blue window light. The loud crashes resounded every time the large soldier swung the sharpened rod of iron into the floor. The skinny one was swinging one hand into the air with a thrusting sword that resembled a needle attached to a pommel. They were attacking thin air, going mad with evasive rolls and attacks that whiffed past each other. Vaike couldn't tell if they were fighting each other, or completely insane. "What in the…"

"Aaaagh!" A guttural scream and tearing of metal sliced through the air as the large soldier stopped in his attacks. His chest puffed out, both his hands thrown to his side as he looked skyward. He dropped his thick weapon and shield to clang to the floor, followed shortly after with his entire body crashing face first into the ground.

That was when Vaike saw something that caught his eyes just as the elevating saucer behind him had. It was movement. He squinted at the scene before him, not sure if he had seen right. No, there was a third figure; one barely noticeable, blending into the background almost completely camouflaged.

Vaike ducked his head back into their corner. His eyes had gone wide. Next to him, Mirabelle was practically biting her gloved hand. "(What's happening?)" She said.

"It's a damn ghost!"

"Shhh!" Mirabelle planted a gloved hand over his mouth in an attempt to silence him.

Another agonizing scream rang out, followed by a thud and silence. Vaike and Mirabelle froze. His blood ran cold. He dared another look, but found only the bodies of skinny and large lying on the floor. No victor stood above them. Yet just then, Vaike could feel eyes turn on him. He quickly retracted once more, heart pounding in the way he most dreaded. He was scared shitless.

A different set of footsteps, so faint that if he had spoken he would've drowned them out, began rapidly toward them. Vaike didn't even think. He grabbed Mirabelle by the shoulders and trudged toward the elevating disc. It wasn't there, but it would be in a moment. The ticking grew closer until it the disc covered the hole for just a split second. Mirabelle gasped as he dragged her onto it as the footsteps rounded the corner.

Butterflies were born in his gut as the disc immediately rose despite their added weight. It took them onto a second story he hadn't even known existed. They hopped off. A small fire burned a bright yellow to their left. Mirabelle tried going right, but Vaike pulled her toward the fire. "Hay!" Mirabelle said, trying to pull him toward the nearest cover.

"It won't work." Vaike said, pulling her along with some effort. He flicked his wrist behind him, splashing tiny droplets of blood down the hall. "It'll just follow the blood trail… c'mon." His voice trembled as he spoke through intakes of stale air. He tried his best to speed up, to cross the distance to find somewhere, anywhere they could hide. That thing had seen them, and it was coming.

Vaike wiped the sweat from his forehead. His legs were running smooth; it was his back that threatened to plunge him to the ground with every step.

There was an open door above a small set of stairs just beyond the fire. Vaike and Mirabelle skipped steps as they used their entire bodies to climb up and emerge through the doorway. The chamber they found themselves in was deserted. A giant bed was directly in front of them with barely any light coming from the single draped window behind it. That was all Vaike cared to note before hobbling forward and scrambling up the bed sheets. They were silky, cold, and fine to his calloused hands. He gave up on pulling himself up and pushed into the comfy material, bringing one foot up and over. He glanced back toward the open door, suddenly wishing he'd closed it. No one was coming, but he knew that was pointless with their pursuer.

"Pssssst! Vaike, over here!" Mirabelle's silhouette waved with big sweeps of an arm. She had climbed the bedding, and was on all fours scrambling into a small pocketed corner. Vaike judged the distance and rolled his entire body toward her. The world spun around him, but he eventually fell from the sheets and onto sweet, hard ground. The pain re-erupted, sharper this time. He found it hard to keep his voice down at the urge to yell out. This pocket he now laid in fit his body perfectly, hiding him so long as he stayed at ground level. Mirabelle was kneeling over the bedding material and staring toward the door. No other entrance or escape route seemed evident in this pocket that didn't seem to be meant for people to go behind. Vaike counted on not having to find one. There was no way he could get his body running like that again.

Vaike managed to flip himself around and part away the fabric that touched the surprisingly clean floor. The dark stared back at him. He shifted positions, desperate to know if they were done for. He found the door, but no one stood in it. For what seemed like an entire minute, nothing moved. All the sounds in his ears were his own heavy breaths and the shallow gasps of his partner in cowardice. Then even those quieted to a reasonable volume to ignore, and everything was still.

A shattering crack split that silence with numerous smaller cracks. _A vase being thrown to the ground, or smashed._ Vaike bit his lower lip. Another crack broke out, this time Vaike catching glimpses of shards flying outside the doorway. Then silence once more.

Vaike's eyes never blinked as he stared at that open space. He knew what to look for, that being anything, and saw just the hint of motion take up the small space in the doorway. The transparent wave simply stood there for some odd seconds, distorting the yellow light behind it. Then, just as fast as it appeared, it vanished with a swift movement.

 _It's here._

Vaike's heart began racing back to a speeding horse. A small gasp was caught just behind him. Mirabelle must've seen it too, that it was now in the room with them. At least, that's what Vaike thought. No, he knew.

His eyes darted all around the limited view. Nothing. He clenched an open hand to a fist and waited for something to grab him by the neck and haul him off to hell. It would follow his blood trail… he knew ghosts could see in the dark… or at least thought so.

Vaike suddenly noticed the fabric in his clenched hand. Even in the darkness, he could see the distinct red that was the sheets only color. Not white or gold or for Naga's sake more blue, but a fine, wondrous red that wouldn't show any signs if a little bit of wine were spilt on it. He stopped breathing all together, focusing once more on the doorway. Hope welled inside of him, just a miniscule amount that was very hesitant to replace the sense of caution.

There were bangs, booms, flashes of red light in his peripheral that died down within seconds of being born. A grin formed on his dry lips. Even when Mirabelle ducked down and an agonizing heat prickled the hairs on his back, Vaike smiled.

 _The dastard has no idea where we are._

He continued to stare at the only thing that would bring him full relief from this nightmare, and eventually, a motion blurred past the doorway. It was gone.

Vaike waited for another five seconds, a good long five seconds, and released all the stress in one long, loud sigh of relief.

"(Shhh!") Mirabelle was in a panic at the sudden outburst. She was practically on top of him, her normally well-kept hair in a frizzled mess of singed ends.

Vaike chuckled, putting an arm around his eyes as to rest them. "It's gone. It's gone…"

"Yeah… well I don't want it to come back."

"Too late now-aaaaow!" A knee smashed into his wounded stomach.

"Oh… my apologies." Mirabelle said. At least she sounded genuine. She took one last glance over the bed and tapped her stave to his stomach, a green light emerging between them to light both their faces. A wave of warm numbness washed over his body. He suddenly felt very tired.

"… Welp, all this healing magic outta attract it if it were still in here." Vaike said.

Mirabelle was quiet. While a bright smile plagued Vaike's face, Mirabelle held her frown even though they had dodged death just a moment ago. "…just stay still."

"Cheer up, lady. You'd think… that…" He faded off, his thought lost forever.

Mirabelle looked up from his wound. "Just what was that thing… Vaike? …Vaike?"

Vaike was already snoring.


	7. Chapter 6: New Enemies, New Problems

Chapter 6

New Enemies, New Problems

"WaAaaaaugh…" The Risen fell to the ground with arms splayed. The tattered rags on its pink, grossly decayed flesh had provided nothing to stop the lance from creating a gruesome hole in its stomach. Two more of its brothers came limping forward. Their weak blows bounced off the knight's armor with a cute 'dink'. A reply was swiftly given, and both were impaled and left on the ground in seconds. Frederick turned around to the rest of the party. Everyone was a mix of impressed, surprised, and just a bit wary at the smile on the man's face.

Robin politely clapped. "I guess you don't need a horse after all."

"These Risen are less than combat effective. Nevertheless, we must air on the side of caution." Frederick said.

Lissa poked at one corpse with the tip of her stave. "It's like they're made of twigs or something…"

Robin had to agree. These first few Risen they'd encountered were thin and gangly. They didn't even have armor, and their weapons could barely be considered blades. If only all Risen were like this…

The opening chapter into this fortress was littered with forgotten wood and garbage with snow blanketing it all. A single lit torch was firmly latched to one stone wall, the only real fire Robin had seen in too long. Sections of window-like arches had missing bricks indicating that this entire open air passage might have once been enclosed by a roof. Contrasting with the white snow, the bricks were a mix of faded blacks and greys. Rusted iron spikes lined a stairway that lead up and presumably deeper inside: an odd design for a defensive structure.

"Gah!" Chrom kicked at the wooden gate that had been the most obvious entrance inside. It didn't budge an inch. "Looks like we're heading up."

Robin nodded. "Kellam, take point with Frederick."

The two knights lumbered off and began climbing the stairs with considerable effort. Everyone followed single file, but something caught Robin's eye. A body was slung upside down in the air, tied by its feet just to the right of the stairs. Lissa averted her eyes, following Lon'qu up. Tharja, on the other hand, stared at it with some interest. Robin continued up the steps himself. He was about halfway when he noticed Tharja was still staring at it.

"Hay, Tharja." He said. No response. He took a few steps down. "Tharja?"

She put a contemplative thumb to her chin. Without taking her eyes off the corpse, she spoke. "Doesn't something about this thing seem odd?"

Robin cocked his head slightly, squinting as he tried to discern any meaning behind those words. "This entire place seems odd, honestly. Come on. We're in the middle of battle." As if on cue, sounds of metal and flesh meeting resounded close by. Lissa and Lon'qu were rounding a corner as Robin was skipping steps to catch up.

Tharja took one last look before following after.

Atop the steps, Robin found several Risen bodies on the ground. High on another set of stairs stood one with a bow in its grip. It let loose an arrow toward one of the advancing knights, only for it to harmlessly deflect off Kellam's heavy shield. They moved slowly toward the lone Risen, the rest of the Shepherds following close behind. Robin didn't like being in the rear, but knew they could handle the battle without much assistance.

He took a moment to scour the new area. Some rectangular towers stood on the corners looking just as foreboding as the entrance, but the largest was smack in the center. The tall circular tower seemed broken or incomplete as it went high into the sky with no obvious roof. He was reminded of an old Regna Ferox outpost that had been long abandoned to bandits, but even that had been built with some symmetry. This place had no such rhyme or reason.

Below them was an open air courtyard, a lone statue of a mother and child staring back. Surrounding this statue was what looked like a mass of meat and gold. Robin could just make out the wood poking out from between the gold were in fact spears. He made a mental note to avoid whatever that was.

"Ouch!" Kellam reeled back, almost tumbling back down the stairs. The wooden shaft of an arrow stuck out between two plates of armor. Frederick advanced alone, stabbing just short of where the archer was standing. It prepared another shot aimed directly in the man's face. Robin rushed forward; now aware these things could put up some fight.

Chrom was faster, and the Exalt didn't seem happy that one of his soldiers was wounded. He flew up the steps, Falchion extended high into the air before being brought down. The Risen along with its bow were sliced in two and fell to the snow covered bricks.

Lissa was tending to Kellam on the lower level as Robin joined Chrom on the higher platform. Another tower came into view on the left, as well as two hideous blobs with limbs. Atop a third and final set of stairs were two "Risen" with no face or distinguishable head. Only a single, massive blob of flesh sat between each their shoulders. One held a lit torch, while the other cupped its hand to where its mouth would be.

Robin didn't even have time to blink before a ball of fire smacked into him. He was on the ground before he knew it, dazed from the surprise and singing pain on the right half of his face. The torch bearing blob walked slowly forward, waving the fire to ward off invisible bugs in front of it. Chrom struck the torch from the thing's hand, causing it to recoil back. It was vulnerable.

From the ground, the tactician flipped a tome open in one hand and unleashed its power from the other. "Thunder!" Electricity coursed through his arm all the way to the tips of his fingers. Lightning shot out of his palm and entered the enemy with no effect, or so it seemed. It tensed its hands into claws and scraped at its body. Then, the blob popped into a shower of yellow energy and purple glop. Robin managed to shield his face as specks of its "blood" rained down onto his sleeves, staining them. The now deflated head-sack monster fell down the steps in a limp heap.

The other had backed up some steps, curling its fingers into a circle once more. Another burst of fire was sent barreling toward the downed Robin. He decided rolling down a flight of steps to be more harm than if he were to just take the damage, and so braced himself.

"Think again!" Chrom planted himself in the middle of the spell's path. He flattened Falchion against an arm. The fire connected with Falchion, exploding briefly to either side of the sword, then dissipated into nothing but hot air. While grateful for the save, Robin had no way of firing off his own attack without hitting him.

That was when Frederick leapt into action. Even without his steed, the knight's movement was enough to confront the monster before it could retreat further. He thrust his lance to its fullest extension, just puncturing the skin with the sharpened tip. The thing's body froze in agony, and then shuddered as the blade was pulled out. A jet of purple spewed out of the tiny opening that washed all over the knight below. The blob quickly deflated and became a husk on the steps just as the other. The battle was over.

"Is everyone ok?" Chrom said. He extended a hand to Robin. He graciously took it and rose from the hard ground. Everyone seemed fine, despite the encounter of yet another unknown enemy.

Kellam massaged his shoulder. "Ah well, I'm fine."

"Pffft… look at Frederick… hehehe" Lissa covered her mouth next to Kellam.

Frederick was wiping the goop with reasonable disgust. The thick globs fell away leaving a faint pink stain on his once shining armor. "What is this… Ptoo! Ugh… apologies milord. I was too hasty in my attack."

"It's fine." Chrom said, flicking off a speck of the purple goop from his shoulder plate. "Let's just hope it isn't… Frederick?"

Frederick had stopped wiping off his armor. His face seemed to drain of what little color it had. He blinked erratically, putting a palm to the side of his face. "I… do not feel well… all of a… HnnnNNNGGG…!" The man collapsed in on himself, hugging his stomach and producing a low, painful groan.

"Frederick!" Chrom rushed and knelt by the man's side. "Lissa, get over here!"

With only a moment of hesitation, Lissa nodded and climbed the rest of the steps to join her brother. Robin watched as she released her stave's magic. He turned to the rest of the Shepherds who were just as concerned. "We're exposed out here. Kellam, Lon'qu, take the lead and secure this room to our left." He pointed up, and with two nods they went.

He turned back to the three kneeling in the snow. Frederick's face was pointed down, but Robin could still hear his groans. The suddenness of this was too much to be coincidence. It had to of been the monster's blood. Even knowing that, he had no experience dealing in poisons.

"Did you heal him?" Chrom said.

"Yes! Frederick, is it working? Say something!" Lissa was frantically healing him, using too much of the stave's energy for it not to work.

Frederick took a sharp breath, gasping as though he were choking a moment ago. "It still… haah… it still hurts…" He fell silent once more.

Lissa looked to Robin with desperation. "W-what do we do?" She said.

Robin didn't have to think about it. "Keep healing him. Chrom, help me get him up."

The Exalt blinked at his tactician's command, but quickly took on of his knight's arms and lifted him to a stand. Robin took the other, and made a grueling crawl up the final steps. Green energy was released behind them, and every time it was Frederick became relieved only for a second before falling back into painful groans.

 _Three…_

They took another step, and then another. Lissa healed him again.

 _Four …_

He was a heavy dastard, but they eventually made it up and into the small doorway leading into a dark room. They passed a corpse cast to one stone wall. Lon'qu, Kellam, and Tharja were standing about, waiting for further orders. Most of the floor was destroyed, leaving a massive hole to what appeared to be a lower story. Robin and Chrom slowly dragged Frederick across the narrow path and down a flight of stairs. A rectangular window was the only source of light, leaving much of this lower floor filled with darkness. They bumbled around until finally just letting Frederick rest on one stone wall under the only light.

Lissa healed him again, lighting the entire room in green for just a moment. Robin took the opportunity to scan for enemies, and found only two overturned chairs in their presence.

 _Five._

Frederick raised his head toward the ceiling, eyes clenched. He took longer breaths, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. Lissa produced a handkerchief and gently patted them away. His breathing became calmer, his arms relaxing from where they were wrapped around his gut. After some time, it was apparent he wasn't going to relapse again, and least for now.

"Frederick?" Chrom whispered in a low voice.

"Give him some space, Chrom." Lissa waved her brother away. "I think he's ok."

Robin closed his eyes and raised an arm to wipe his face, pulling back at the last moment when he realized it was covered in the purple gunk. Disgusted, He dragged the sleeve against the nearby wall.

 _It's okay. It, is OK. Frederick is stable. Lissa used her stave only… five times. That coupled with however many she used before this. There's not much left... and we only brought one stave. I thought one for Lissa and Mirabelle would be plenty! But now…_

 _How could it have poison blood? It doesn't make any sense. Nothing here does!_

He reopened his eyes to find only darkness staring back. Robin began back up the steps to the upper floor, letting his eyes adjust to the low light. When he thought he'd found himself alone, he saw a silhouette leaning against the indent just inside the entrance. The man tossed a side glance as Robin's feet creaked against the floor boards.

"Is he alive?" Lon'qu said.

"…Yes. I think the worst is over… we've never faced anything like that." Robin struggled to sound neutral. To sound like he wasn't terrified at what just happened.

Lon'qu turned his head fully to face Robin, arms crossed. "Can we handle this?"

"Of course." Robin said. He didn't know if he could, but showing doubt now would only spread fear and weaken their chances. "Those things caught us by surprise. Next time, we'll know how to deal with them."

The swordsman looked out the doorway once more. Whether he had been reassured or not, Robin didn't know. He didn't even know if Lon'qu was the one needing reassurance.

He brushed his cloak off only to find them covered in sticky blotches of that poison's residue. A chill ran down his spine at the sight of it. He tore off his outer robe and tossed it to the wood floor. He didn't mind the stifling cold on his skin as long as that stuff stayed far away from him.

"Rats!" Kellam's cry came along with the man himself up some stairs.

"What?" Robin said.

He pointed in panic down below where he'd come from. "Rats, big ones!" His armor clanked with his frantic movement, along with wood cracking where he stomped his feet.

Robin and Lon'qu shared a glance of confusion. Lon'qu sighed and made toward the stairs. "I didn't take you for someone afraid of rats."

"Oh, you'll know why I'm scared. These aren't regular rats at all!" They both disappeared down below.

The tactician leaned where Lon'qu previously had been, staring out the narrow frame where the rest of the path awaited. It began to sink in that this was no ordinary mission. They had no convoy, no backup. They had a limited supply of weaponry and… and what about food? No, they'd just have to find a way out before then. There had to be a way out.

 _And what if there's not?_

No, he couldn't think like that.

"We will find a way back. All of us. Just like every other battle."

2

After some time, Robin found himself sitting. He let a leg hang in the open air where the wood floor was destroyed. Nothing had advanced on their position, and he was left pondering their next move.

The air was still. No wind swept outside, and no clouds trudged through the sky. The bright moon never wavered in its casting of bright light in the empty sky. Except for the small amounts of commotion below, this land was entirely quiet.

 _I wish its inhabitants were peaceful._

He eyed his neighbor, the limp corpse of a Risen. The flesh was pink, the head completely bald, and eyes completely dark and empty. It was covered in old wounds along with the fresh ones Lon'qu must have dealt it. The rags that were the thing's clothes hid its boney, pitifully skinny body. In one hand it clutched a shattered sword, even in death.

Robin sighed, then stood. He dragged the corpse across the doorway as to block it and headed down the stairs. There, Lissa sat next to her family's most devoted knight. He had his eyes shut, his mouth moving to say something Robin couldn't make out. Chrom was pacing about the room, his Falchion bouncing with each step. Tharja sat curled in a far corner.

Not the cheeriest of sights.

Robin kept a hand to one wall as he made toward Lissa. "… problem. It's what I do, Freddy." Lissa said. "Just sit back and… oh, hi Robin. Where are your robes?" She slowly rose from her kneeling, looking him up and down with an arched brow.

Robin found his cheeks heating up slightly. He couldn't recall when he was ever seen in his tunic alone. "Nevermind that. Is Frederick…"

"I'm feeling considerably better." Frederick opened his eyes and brought his head away from the cold stone wall.

"What did it feel like?" Robin couldn't help but ask.

"... Dreadful. It was just so sudden. That horrible mess got in my mouth and it suddenly felt like I was being stabbed in the gut. Without milady's aid, I fear I would have fainted or worst." Frederick looked to Lissa. "You have my thanks."

Lissa clutched her staff closer to her. "I wish that I could've cured it instead of just staving off the pain."

"I'm sure you did your best." Robin said. "We're facing enemies we never have before. These things are bound to happen."

Lissa plopped onto the wood floor. Her eyes went to the single window. "I hope Mirabelle and Vaike are having better luck than we are."

Robin opened his mouth, searching for something, anything to say. He stayed quiet. A moment passed where only Chrom's pacing filled the room.

"Mind if you quit that?" Tharja called out.

He did stop, grunting under a palm covered mouth. His eyes were cast toward the ground, not saying a word. He began tapping his foot, increasing its frequency every few seconds.

Robin stood in silence, staring at his leader and friend just as everyone in the room did. Rage, or frustration, or fear, Robin couldn't tell what was eating at him.

Finally, someone spoke. "Milord, I am fine." Frederick put on a convincing smile. It was probably the warmest expression Robin would ever have the luxury of seeing on Frederick the Wary.

Chrom took a deep breath and exhaled in a long sigh. "I know. But we can't get near those things. These Risen are deadly and we are ill equipped for prolonged combat."

"Then let's get going already." Tharja said. She rose from her fetal position with a tome in hand. "Leave those Risen to me and I'll make short work of them from afar."

"That was what I was going to propose." Robin said. "Any poison Risen will have to be brought down with range, and extreme caution."

Chrom looked between the two mages. "It's up to you two then. We have to get out of here and regroup as quickly as possible."

Lissa jumped out of her sitting position. "Right! Looooon'quuuu, Kellaaaaam, get your butts up here already."

Metal to Robin's side began to shift. Frederick pushed against the wall, sucking in his breath as he stood on his two feet. He puffed out his now spotted pink chest piece with both hands behind his back. "Ready, Milord."

Chrom smiled, drawing Falchion with a swift hand movement. "Shepherds, we're moving out."

Robin caught the contagious optimism, and rose. He patted his pockets only to find his tomes were still in his robes. "Ah… well I'll be ready in… just a moment."

As Robin turned to head upstairs, two men rose from an even lower section of the tower.

"… what is that?" Tharja made her way over to them.

Kellam plopped something on the ground. "It's one of the giant rats."

"Ewwww! Kellam, why did you bring it up here! Why are you touching it!" Lissa cried.

"It's as big as a wolf. And why is it white?" Chrom said.

Kellam was giddy. "Isn't it strange? They scared me half to death when I went down there!"

Robin glanced back to find they'd formed a huddle around whatever sized rat they had stumbled upon. He hoped Kellam was enjoying the attention.

Up the stairs, he grabbed his tossed away cloak and patted it down. Three tomes fell out, their hard backs hitting the floor with two thuds. Robin tossed the clothing away once more. Or, at least he tried to. He held it in two hands, spreading it out. He surveyed it, realizing it wasn't as ruined as he thought it had been. The stains of the monster's blood had dried against the dark black fabric and were starting to chip off. Barely noticeable. Completely usable.

Robin grinned to himself in the darkness. He would probably wear this thing until it was just tattered cloth around his neck. He wrapped it around his shoulders, quickly shoving his hands through the loose arm flaps. The cold touch of the fabric to skin immediately sent a wave of relief about his entire body, and an audible sigh escaped his lips. He picked up his tomes and replaced them to where they once were, safe by his side.

The body he set by the doorway was still there, unmoving and untampered with, not that he expected it would be. Its eyes stared in his direction, completely empty of any life.


	8. Chapter 7: Humanity

Chapter 7

Humanity

Within the next tower was a single spacious room with an upper level made of wood. A table and a few chairs were nearby, empty and shabbily made. Several broken planks originating from above were strewn across the floor. Some miniature support pillars were to a far off wall, along with two of the poisonous Risen. Just as before, one held a torch and one was farther away: an effective frontline/archer pair. Along with them, was an actual archer Risen firing arrows on an open air platform. He wasn't any threat, as for some reason it just kept shooting at and hitting the stone walls in between them. Outsmarting these things would be ideal, but this next trial would rely on brute strength.

Every Shepherd waited nervously along the precarious bridge that connected the previous tower to this one. Swords were drawn and bodies poised to rush in when the signal was given. The plan was simple, and would rely on staying as far away from the enemy as possible.

Robin retracted from the small entrance. "I saw some movement above. Two bottom, maybe more. Frederick and Lon'qu, go right. Tharja…"

The dark mage was practically on top of him. Her nails were digging into the tome she held close to her chest. "Oooooh, I'm going to enjoy this."

Robin gulped, taking one last look to each soldier before turning back toward the entrance. He tightened his grip on his own tome. He waited until the patrolling torch Risen had its back turned. And then-

"Go!"

He flew forward, dipped left down a set of stone steps. Tharja followed only inches away, and the rest of the Shepherds began filing out onto the soon-to-be battlefield. The monsters above were no where to be seen, but the two below were now directly in front of him. The torch bearer slowly rotated its grotesque head to face them. Robin wasn't going to let that thing close the distance. He flipped open the red book, letting its magic course through him until it gathered into his open palm. The spout of flame was narrow, but quickly widened as it exploded outward. For a second, Robin only saw something flailing in the shower of fire. When it subsided, only a black husk holding a burning rod laid where his enemy had been.

"Aww." Tharja held off the spell she had been preparing. Robin couldn't help but smile wryly at the successful hit.

The second blob realized its ally was a charred heap on the ground and backed away up a set of stairs. At first glance, it was retreating, but Robin saw it cupping a hand in front of it and knew what was coming.

Reflex took over. His foot kicked up and collided with the wooden table. It flipped on its side, the flat planks absorbing the Risen's fireball. Robin shielded his eyes as it burst into tiny fragments that flew every direction. When the debris cleared he took his shot.

Arcfire spewed from his palm, engulfing the space between him and his target but failed in reaching the Risen. The tips of flame licked at the Risen as it back pedaled further up the stairs and onto higher ground. Once safely out of his spell, it countered with its own fire spell.

"Damn it." Robin began to step forward and braced himself for the impact. The ball of fire packed a lot less punch than he initially thought. What was more concerning was the sheer heat that blasted his entire front, sizzling his skin as though he wasn't even wearing clothes. The bright flash of flame dissipated, but the pain lingered in the form of burns all over his arms and chest.

 _I hate fighting other magic users… if this thing could even be considered a mage._

The tactician switched his tome with grueling pain stabbing at him as he worked. He flipped another tome open and aimed. He was about to fire when a pale hand delicately lowered his own. Robin blinked away the sun-spots in his eyes.

Tharja didn't look back as she stepped in front of him.

"Die now…!" The same hand shot out in a terrifying claw. The darkness in the room gravitated toward her, congealing around the open tome tucked under one arm. Golden glyphs circled around both her and the Risen. A Green, bubbly substance spawned within the Risen's circle. As the monster's bloated skin touched the magic, it tore open instantly. Howls and gurgles emanated from the thing as the acidic substance grew in density until it fully covered and muffled the creature. It slumped down in a steaming pool of liquids.

"You deserved worse…" She slowly spun on her heels, letting her loose sleeves swing with her hair. "I'm so sorry to waste Mire on such a pitiful enemy, but I just couldn't see you get yourself hurt again."

Robin struggled to find the words he was searching for before settling with, "Good work," and gave a curt nod. This was enough for the dark mage to break into a devious grin. She closed her tome with a loud crack.

Lon'qu and Frederick emerged from where the archer had been. Chrom looked impressed.

Lissa bolted toward Robin. "Holy wow! You two were on fire! Well, Robin was literally on fire, but you roasted those things." She stopped just short of slamming into him.

"Yeah… it hurt somewhat." Robin said. He dusted off the char dust on his blackened cloak. Luckily, the original color and purple etchings returned with a few swipes.

"Oh, right! Here…" The sprightly cleric straightened her stave. The familiar, almost nostalgic warmth flowed through Robin, instantly relieving him of the pain. The flesh that had been scorched under his robes quickly cooled and regenerated. The lovely sensation was brief.

Chrom pointed skyward. "It's not over yet!"

Two Risen dropped down from the second level; a poison and a normal. The regular Risen landed behind Tharja and began swinging wildly with its broken sword. Before it could reach her, Chrom had lunged forward with Falchion in hand. He struck once, slicing its sword hand clean off and flying off into the air. The Risen stopped swinging, saw its handless arm, and simply swung its other hand at him. Another quick slice silenced it for good.

Robin and Tharja both turned and flipped open their tomes. The poison Risen charged at them.

"Arcfire!"

2

Robin let himself collapse against a thin pillar. He was winded, but more relieved than anything else. Freshly splintered wood along with deceased undead were scattered all over the ground. The plan had worked without a hitch. He had expected to take more damage than he did. As long as the others didn't get near those monsters, he'd be happy to face them all by himself.

"Hay, don't faint on us." Chrom remained standing along with the other shepherds who looked on with worry. He hadn't broken a sweat.

Well, he only handled one of the weaker ones, so that was to be expected…

Robin pulled himself up. "Let's take a moment. Search the area for anything we can use. Frederick…"

The knight stopped dead where he was, half bent dragging a Risen corpse by its arms. He dropped them and quickly straightened up to a saluting posture.

"Stand guard at that exit up there." Robin said.

"Ofcourse." He hurried off, as slowly as a grounded knight could, up some stairs toward his post.

Tharja kicked at one of the Risen who'd dropped down from above. "You could've waited for him to finish cleaning this place. Ugh, I need some air. It reeks of burnt flesh and rot in here…" She walked off, her heels clacking against the stone beneath as she went. She disappeared out onto a wooden balcony they'd seen on their way inside. Seems her infatuation with him was slated for the moment.

 _Maybe I should make a perfume out of this stuff._

Robin shook away the idea. He wasn't that desperate.

Yet.

"That went so well!" Lissa shouted a little too loudly. Her enthusiasm was infectious most of the time, but it had no effect on her brother.

"Indeed it did, but you were alittle too close to the action, don't you think?" Chrom said, folding his arms.

"Maybe, but If I hadn't healed Robin then he wouldn't have been able to blast that last baddy so quickly." Lissa said.

Chrom's reply was instant. "You were so close that your hair is singed from the heat." He'd stopped being the Exalt and leader of the bravest soldiers in Ylisse, and was now only an older sibling scolding a younger.

"W-what, this?" Lissa grabbed a handful of her yellow, frizzed hair ends and worked to straighten them down. "This is nothing. Soldiers go through worse every day, right?"

Chrom sighed. "Just be more careful. This isn't-"

"-like anything we've faced before." Lissa finished. "You say that almost every battle."

This earned a smile of resignation from the blue haired prince. "And it's true." He rested a hand on Falchion's hilt as he walked away.

"You have to take risks sometimes, right Robin?" Lissa daintily skipped next to him and rested her back on another small pillar.

"Yeah…" Robin's eyes followed Chrom to where he stopped by Lon'qu. He said something to the myrmidon. Lon'qu said little, but nodded back. They talked for a while, hushed and short.

 _What did he whisper?_

"…Robin?"

 _It probably wasn't important. If it was, he'd have told me. I am his tactician… the tactician who's baseless choice to investigate this place entrapped them here. I guess he'd be right to want to confide in someone else._

A sharp whap from something hard sent his head into sudden pain. "Ow!"

Lissa had one hand in a fist around her stave as she pouted. "This is like the third time you've spaced out on me. What's going on?"

Robin massaged his skull. "You shouldn't use your stave as a weapon, Lissa."

"I can when I have nothing else to get your attention." Lissa said.

"No, I mean you really shouldn't. The orb could crack, and that's about the only healing we have. You need to take this seriously." Robin said.

Lissa looked as if he'd stabbed her. "I'm taking this really seriously!"

Robin gave a face of complete doubt, and began walking off toward the balcony. Some air would be nice.

"H-hay! Don't dodge the question- get back… ugh…" Lissa slouched onto her pillar, not bothering to chase.

Robin felt a pang of guilt, but knew it was the right choice. He couldn't let his guard down, as Lissa always managed to do despite being in enemy territory. He would gladly goof around with her when he and everyone else were back in the barracks, safe and sound. Until then, he had to stay focused.

 _Yes, ignore her and her legitimate concern for you. You're making all of the best decisions today._

 _3_

The balcony was small and built sturdily enough, considering how old the wood must be. Even so, it creaked under him and had cracks in it just wide enough to warrant concern of where he placed his feet. He kept a hand firmly on the stone frame of the tower.

The view it offered was… _would_ be unbelievable. The mountains completely blocked the horizon with the snowy trees on their peaks. The dark abyss below offered no reference to how high they truly were or any chance of escape by climbing down. What captivated him, though, was just how still everything was. Even though he could make out the trees from afar, he couldn't see them waving or leaves falling. Not a single bird or Risen made a sound, creating a deafening silence that was only broken by the occasional creak of wood.

Tharja leaned against the railing in the farthest corner. The moon was behind the tower, casting a shadow which draped over her. She seemed to be a part of the scenery; still, frozen in time. The only thing that moved was the long strands of hair that strayed from the rest.

For a moment, Robin thought it best not to say anything, and quietly let the peace sink in.

"What do you want?" Tharja said in a single sigh. She didn't turn from where she was staring off.

"Nothing. Just needed some air." Robin said, rather surprised by her tone.

"Oh, Robin." She finally did turn, pushing off the rail. "I thought it was one of them."

"Do you speak to everyone else in such a way?" Robin said.

She chuckled, dawning her usual grin. She let her finger drag against the snow on the railing as she slowly made toward him. "I only enjoy chatting with you, I'm sure you're well aware. I thought you'd be talking to that bundle of blonde energy."

"Who, Lissa? That energy is what keeps her going. I wouldn't want to see her down. That'd be a sign that morale was totally gone."

"I could do without it. But if you like it, I could try for you."

Robin raised a hand in a stopping gesture. "I've already told you you're fine acting the way you are. Don't change… please." He shivered in remembrance of what Tharja was like when she acted 'normal'.

The deathly pale skin on her cheeks turned a shade rosy. "Keheh. I won't. You accept me for who I am."

"Y-yeah…?" Robin said, inching back into the tower. She closed in, a wolf playing with its prey. Do wolves play with prey? Perhaps bear would be more fitting. Robin's mind raced as slender fingers reached out and grabbed his collar. He had been subconsciously backing away.

He pointed at the nearest thing of interest that wasn't himself. "HAY LOOK! A DEAD BODY!"

Tharja glanced back, then back to him. She squinted in confusion.

He blinked a couple times, and then once more in his own puzzlement. "You know… we're not in combat anymore so feel free to inspect all the bodies you want! Haha… ha." He found his heart racing, and his head felt like it was on fire despite the chill of the stale air.

Her full-on grin lessened, and she nodded. "Good thinking. I like where your heads at." She turned away, dragging Robin back onto the balcony with surprising strength.

"I… like where your heads at… too?" Robin said, but Tharja was already busy with the body. He joined her in bending over the railing to get a better look.

The corpse he had only moments ago noticed was that of a horribly decayed Risen, at least he hoped it was. It was slung upside down by rope, much like the one Tharja had seen earlier. Robin couldn't help but notice how it too was frozen as it dangled above the fortress ground below.

"Well, it obviously isn't going anywhere." She reached out and grasped at air trying to grab the rope.

"What are you…!" Robin's jaw went slack as her knee came up and onto the railing. She reached out further, threatening to put her full weight out and plummet to the snow below.

"Could you help, I'm… not…kah…" She managed to poke the rope, causing the whole thing to sway. A strange twisting noise intermingled with her grunts. The rope tightened, becoming skinnier and less of a target. Even so, she managed to grab onto and pull it closer.

She lowered herself back onto the balcony, her prize in hand, when the rope snapped.

Robin grabbed her hand as she was yanked toward the railing. His feet skidded across the planks, bouncing as they hit the gaps, until his midsection caught the railing. The body swung wildly below, the rope almost slipping from his grip.

Tharja blinked wide eyed beside him, hand still under both of his. Robin wasn't strong, but thankfully the load wasn't heavy, and they were able to bring it up and over. He let it collapse onto the wood and took short gasps of air. Tharja flexed and waved her rope-burnt palm.

"Please… be more careful." Robin panted. "… Tharja?"

"…Kehehe… He held my… Kehehe…" Tharja didn't seem to even hear his words, too busy caressing her hand.

"…" Robin wasn't totally sure if it was pain or pleasure that the dark mage was in. He resorted to what he always did when his stalker was like this; ignore the 'whys'.

At closer inspection, the corpse was bleached white from the snow. Like the Risen they'd fought here, it only had tattered rags around its waist. No clues to how or why it was strung up.

 _It must've been exposed to the weather for an extensive period of time. Just how long ago did this place fall to Risen…?_

Tharja thankfully woke up from her daze and knelt beside the body. "Hmm. Absolutely dreadful. The skin is barely keeping it together. Just a sack of muscle and bones, like the one hung at the entrance." She said this without ever losing that grin.

"… why are you so interested in these things?" Robin said.

"Do you really have to ask?"

"Well… yes actually. You're never so curious about already-dead specimens."

"True, but there's something about these dried up maggot hives. They have a strange… Oh? What's this?" She reached for one of its clutched hands and roughly worked the stiff finger bones open. When they popped and turned into a claw, she scooped up something that had been within.

Robin watched as she gently brought her enclosed palms up. She opened them, and resting there was something he'd never seen before. It was black, a deep black similar to looking through a deep hole. It was an imperfect diamond, small enough to fit into one hand and seemed so light. The edges were a soft, mesmerizing white fog that disappeared the further it floated away, but constantly replenished around the core.

"What… is that?" Robin asked himself. Tharja just so happened to be there.

She was speechless for a second, both of them staring at the object in her hands until she whispered faintly, "I… it's… it's dark."

"What do you-"

"It's pure dark!" She sprung to her feet. "It's darkness in physical form. Something I never thought possible! This is impossible! Hahaha!" The woman began twirling with it in her hands, laughing too hysterically for what sounded like good news. Robin backed away once more, but she noticed and charged forward with unseen excitement. She brought it right under his chin, showing it to him with the widest smile he thought possible.

"This is the darkness inside of us. The shadows that we ignore and keep hidden from everyone— even ourselves! And it is right here, in the palm of my hands. Soft, warm, delicate darkness…"

"W-w-w-what the hell are you saying? Tharja, How do you know what that—" Robin tried but was cut off.

"I can feel it. It radiates such a pure aura, just like you do. I can feel it and touch it and… and…"

Robin's back hit the stone wall hard, the pain only worsening the headache he was experiencing. He reached out, desperate to separate it from her. He needed to know what it was, what it was doing to her. She flinched back, turning away from him and only stared with her head down in her palms. "Tharja…"

"Kehehe… This is Humanity… in its truest form."

"What's going on?" Chrom rushed onto the balcony. He looked down at the corpse and then back to Robin.

Robin just shook at the pounding in his skull. He didn't know if the strange, splitting pain was being caused by the dark mage, or the object she held. What she was saying was complete nonsense, but at the same time he knew exactly what she meant. One voice, his voice, was shouting to get away. Another wanted to hold it as dearly as Tharja was.

He felt Chrom's hand on his shoulder, bringing him back together. Robin brushed him off.

She kept cackling for some time. Even after Robin rushed off the balcony with both his hands to his ears, he could still hear laughter.


	9. Chapter 8: Beauty and the Barbarian

Chapter 8

Beauty and the Barbarian

"Talk, 'tis no good. No one home. Everyone gone."

"…"

"But you, friend. You talk, I no talk, but happy."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Vaike scratched his scalp at the giant creature before him. It seemed slow in the head, and even slower in the mouth. At first he thought it would get up and crush 'em as soon as they entered the room, but after talking back and forth for a good minute, he just couldn't take this thing seriously.

"Vaaaaike…" Mirabelle was staring up at the thing with two googly-looking eyes. "…we best not anger the only… person… that hasn't tried to kill us since we got here. Heheh." She said through a forced smile.

The giant stopped whapping his hammer on the much smaller sword between his two meaty fingers. "Hmmn? You, not friend. Who are you?" It turned a fully armored head to look down at them, as if just noticing their presence.

Vaike's patience was at an all-time low. "Look, Mister Giant. Before you interrupted me, I was the one asking the questions. Like who are YOUuuuu, and where are WEeee." He mimicked the giant's slow speech and stretched his arms out in a grand gesture at the dark room they were in.

The giant was silent. Vaike flinched back when the head turned directly on him, as if staring at him despite there being no obvious eye-slits. Vaike detected some animosity in the prolonged silence, and thought the creature would rise from its seat to get a lesson from the Teach in manners. Instead, it simply turned away and resumed its business with the anvil. When Vaike let out the breath he'd unconsciously been holding for what seemed like minutes, it spoke.

"Funny. You, noisy. I was mistaken. I'm sorry."

"O-oh no no, no need for apologies. We're sorry to intrude on your… blacksmithing. Right Vaike?" Maribelle said, twisting her parasol in both gloved hands. The fake smile plastered on her face was eerily ill-fitting of her.

Vaike wiped the droplets of cold sweat that'd formed on his forehead. "I'll show you what's funny. Right after I find a weapon, I'll teach ya to take me—"

"Vaike! Just let me do the talking…" Mirabelle said.

"But this guy-" Vaike shut his mouth at the deadly glare she pointed his way.

Maribelle instantly switched back to a smile. "Ahem… I am Lady Mirabelle, and this tactless buffoon goes by Vaike. We happened upon this… marvelous castle a while ago and were attacked. We're looking for our friends. Have you any information that might aid us? We would appreciate it immensely."

Once again, the giant only stared at them in silence. Vaike could practically hear the gears turning as the thing processed what she said. He didn't count himself as a sharp tool, but it was downright tiring listening to this thing think.

It peered down at the floor, its shoulders beginning to bounce slightly. Suddenly, a deep chuckle resounded from the giant. The chuckle broke into laughter that pierced Vaike's eardrums. The arsenal of weapons scattered about the room clanged and shook from the powerful vibrations. As suddenly as it started, the laughter died away until it could speak again.

"Funny. Strange words. But no." The giant straightened the weapon on the anvil with unworldly precision and began tapping on it with the hammer. "I know not. I stay here. I forge."

Maribelle slouched in defeat. "Oh, I see…"

Vaike shook his head, half from the ear-splitting noise and half from the predicted disappointment. "I knew he wasn't gonna help. We got a million questions and this thing is the only thing that could know any…thing." He pointed at the giant. "We need answers, whatever your name is. Lives are at stake! Our friends are in trouble. Friiiiieennnds? Got it?"

"Hmm. No one come. I'm sorry."

"Ugh… Well THANKS." Vaike pumped his legs toward the stairs, tossing away the glimmer of hope he'd had in finding something that talked. "C'mon, we should've just waited by the Gate like you said we should."

Mirabelle stayed where she was, head sunken and shadowed. "Is there anything you can do to help? I just… what do we do now?" She sniffled as she fought back what were sure to be tears.

Vaike stopped where he was on the steps. He grimaced as he doubled back. "Hay, c'mon, don't cry now of all times. We'll find 'em." He reached out for her shoulder, like he would any soldier who's down in the dumps.

"B-but… Lissa still hasn't comeback."

"We'll find 'em." He slammed his palm against her back, a little too hard, and sent her almost tumbling to the ground in the recoil. He grimaced at forgetting how light the noblewoman was. His body instinctually went into a defensive stance at the incoming danger.

She straightened her posture, but instead of turning around and yelling at him like he thought she would, the girl only wiped her face and began slinking back up the stairway they'd come from.

He'd never seen her like this, and it pissed him off. He needed something to slice in half, or maybe an order to follow. He knew Lissa was at the top of her mind, but neither of them had any idea where to look. The entire castle had been empty up to this point, with no sign of friend or foe. Not that he wanted to run into trouble… but this inactivity, this skulking in the shadows, this wasn't something he could just fight. He felt powerless.

Vaike followed after her, but not before being stopped once more.

"Here." The giant held an iron handle between two fingers. "Take."

Vaike warily came closer, taking the grip in one calloused hand. The feeling of the leather in his hand was amazing, and he knew exactly why. The giant let it go, revealing it to be just what he'd hoped for. The weight was balanced, the steel shimmering in the little light there was. Vaike brought the battle axe to rest on his shoulder, a fat grin on his face. "…Thanks. You're not so useless after all, huh."

"Funny." It said. Vaike wondered if sarcasm was present or not. "I forge. You find friend."

2

The light at the end of the path was a dull teal, darkness engulfed everything else. Pillars that were sure to be right and dandy in the light were only massive shadows that rose to the un-seeable ceiling above. The empty hall was surrounded by walls on either side, creating a sense of entrapment with the one exit far in the distance.

Vaike cruised brazenly down the pitch black tunnel with his new axe slung on one shoulder. He had nothing to fear, nothing to hide. He felt like himself again. "Come on ghosts! Blue people! Teach is here and class is in session!" His words bounced throughout the darkness and echoed back.

"Troglodyte, keep it down!" Maribelle shouted.

"You're shoutin' too." Vaike said, his grin unfaltering.

"That's to suppress the incessant noise spilling from your mouth!" Her riding boots clicked harder against the tiles as her words became more venomous. "How are you going to combat a ghost, anyhow? IF that's what it really was…"

Vaike hoped his toothy grin could be seen in the dark. "One swing at a time. See, a warrior aint gotta see his opponent to fight 'em. It's called using your instincts."

Maribelle scoffed. "Your instincts are going to shorten your life span."

They neared the wide gateway that led outside. Vaike could practically smell the fresh air and yearned to get out this stuffy castle.

"Well it was a ghost, and when we find any trouble you can just find yourself a hidin' spot and watch Teach get some work in."

They emerged from the cavernous castle they'd been in what seemed like hours and were greeted by quite a view. The bright moonlight was extraordinary, casting the dozens of structures around them in a film of blue. Storybook pictures were nothing compared to the dense metropolis of fanciful architecture. It easily rivaled the beauty of Ylisstol.

Vaike whistled in awe, letting his gaze wander the city until he stared up at the gargantuan wall that loomed over everything. But as the surprise wore off, he realized that they were the only two people out here. Not a soul stirred in the entire expanse. "Man… this is alittle eerie."

"Amazing…" Mirabelle whispered under her breath. Then louder, "How are we ever going to find them in all of this! Knowing Robin, I bet he dragged her to every edifice and tower searching for them instead of regrouping when he couldn't track them down. They must be huddled down in the dark, lost and alone with no idea where they are!"

Vaike strolled to the metal fence at the very edge of the platform they stood on. He poked his head between two bars and peered down, straining his eyes for any sign of life. "Uh…"

Mirabelle was shouting into the emptiness at this point. "Oh Lissa! Don't cling to that brainless tactician in this moment of desperation… we'll find—"

"Maribelle!" Vaike got her attention and waved her over. "I don't think they got too far."

"What? What are you implying?" The noblewoman stomped over to where he was leaning out of the fence. She glared at him until he pointed down below. They both poked their heads out and stared downward.

Only darkness stared back. The castle walls sank into the void that was the ground. There were no streets, no people, nothing. If it was caused by the building's shadows, they'd at least be able to see something, maybe a hint or outline of the scene below. This darkness was impenetrable, absolute. It wasn't natural.

Vaike rubbed a thumb to his forehead. "I don't think there's a way to even get into all these buildings here."

Maribelle grabbed onto the fence with both hands. "This is… strange. I guess we shouldn't be that surprised, considering we talked to a giant earlier. Oh… I may be sick."

"Don't like heights?"

"That is not the problem. This is all just… never mind me. Let's keep moving."

Vaike took one last glance at the otherworldly shadow below their feet. An idea popped into his mind. He dug around his pockets and found a loose coin. He double checked its value, and then flicked it off into the abyss. He put an ear out, waiting for the echo.

All he heard was Maribelle's foot tapping against tiles. "Vaike? We don't have all day— I mean night. How long has it been night, anyway…?"

Vaike waited another second. Then another. Nothing. "Long way down…" He frowned as he walked away, trying to process just how far down the ground could actually be, or whether it was possible there was no ground at all. He concluded that it was probably some magic mumbo jumbo, and stopped wasting his time thinking about it.

3

The stairs down were a good workout, though Vaike was itching to flex his chopping arm than spend the entire day on legs. He was now in the middle of Big Wall and Spooky Castle, as he came to dub them, and from this lowered viewpoint he could truly grasp the size of these structures. He was an ant in a city made for giants, as it seemed to be.

"Ha… *pant* wait… you… *pant*" Maribelle finally caught up and doubled over onto her knees when she hit the ground level. "Lord, it's dreadful without a stead."

"Yeah, you have to walk around like common folk and get all sweaty." Vaike said.

"I don't… *pant* require your comments at the moment." She tipped her head up to glare at him, but instead looked past him. "That's…"

Vaike turned and noticed what was directly ahead of them. The bridge before them had a sizable gap in it, making it uncrossable. "Ah jeez, looks like we gotta find another way."

"No, that! On the floor!" Maribelle trotted hastily and scooped something from the tiles. She shoved it into the air, letting the moonlight unveil what it was. "It's Robin's tome! Or at least half of it… Oh no."

"Half of it?" Vaike eyed it as she flipped it around and upside down. She held only the hardback cover and some torn pages still connected to it. "So they must've gone this way?"

"That's already evident." Maribelle said. "What's not apparent is why this tome was destroyed…" She tucked the pages under one shoulder and put a gloved hand to her mouth.

Vaike just scratched his arched brow and looked around the narrow path. A few scraps of paper were tucked into one corner, surely from the tome. He eyed one particular scrap lodged in a nearby mechanism. He thought it odd such a thing was out in the open. It looked similar to a switch that controls fort gates or drawbridges, only with a lot less chains attached.

He dislodged the magical tome paper and threw it to the little wind that existed, and grabbed the handle. He pulled. Nothing. Setting his new axe aside, and gripped the handle with both hands and heaved until it started to bend.

"... These cuts are too clean, it must've been from a weapon… meaning… Vaike! What are you—" Maribelle broke from murmuring to herself.

Vaike stopped pulling and blinked at her. Before he could defend his actions, the switch suddenly gave in and fell downward, throwing Vaike down with it. As he hit the rather hard tile, the gears under the switch began to turn, and a rumbling below echoed out into the silence.

"What did you do!" Maribelle shouted over the loud thumps. They seemed to be rising toward them.

Vaike casually rose from the ground and shrugged. "I don't know, ya got any better ideas?" It was all he could really come up with.

The rumbling only grew louder, and soon a tower began to rise from the gap in the bridge. It spun as whatever gears in it churned in a grand symphony.

When it came to a full stop, they were left in silence once more. It seamlessly connected with the path as though it'd always been there. The stone canopy in the middle of the circular platform housed a staircase leading down and another switch in the center.

"What… in the?" Vaike simply gawked at the tower that had literally just appeared out from under them.

"A moving tower…" Maribelle had a similar expression, but shook it away. "They must've gone down. Come on." She stepped onto where the two paths met and continued forward.

Vaike followed, doubled-back to grab his axe, and then walked onto the strange platform. He was mindful of the thin crack between the two sets of tiles. "You really think they went down? I'd guess that Robin would want to check out Big Wall first."

They walked around the gap in the floor where the stairs spiraled down. Mirabelle spoke as she eyed every inch of the platform. "If that were the case, this mobile structure would've been here, and not down below. Leave the thinking to the higher educated… wait, did you really call it Big Wall of all things?

"Yeah." Vaike smiled despite himself. "Came up with it myself."

"Don't say it like it's something to be proud of."

They reached the center, now shielded from the moonlight by the roof overhead. In front of them was a much larger mechanism than the switch he'd pulled to bring the tower up. It was hell of a lot fancier with its numerous holes in its design. The handle was horizontal along with the gears it was attached to. To pull it left or right was the question.

Maribelle pondered a moment before walking around the switch and planting her gloved hands on it. With some considerable effort, she managed to budge it a whole inch. Vaike shook his head and rubbed his palms together. This was definitely a man's job.

He went to the other side and began pulling. Even with their combined strength, it took a second to get the thing to even move. Once it did budge, with a very satisfying _click_ , the switch began to turn with less effort.

"Haa…" As Vaike walked back-pedaled with the handle, a sharp pain ran across his back. It wasn't enough for him to stop going, he'd been through worse. Even so, when the switch wouldn't go further, he had to catch his breath. Even though the wound was healed, the flesh still remembered. "Guess I'm not as spry as I use to be..."

A rumbling emanated from somewhere below. The platform, as unbelievable as it seemed, began rotating. Motion sickness quickly mixed with the old pain in his stomach.

"Phew… finally." Mirabelle was busy dabbing her forehead with a handkerchief. "This has to lead to somewhere. I'm coming, Lissa."

The buildings blurred together in a sickening mash of blue moonlight. Vaike blinked away the dizziness and stared at the ground. "This reminds me of the first time I was on a boat… Ugh…"

"Aww, cheer up. Seriously, it's not even spinning that fast." Maribelle briefly patted his back, successfully irritating the warrior.

The platform descended further and further away from the moonlight, threatening to plunge the entire structure into shadow. Eventually, the rotation slowed. Vaike looked up to find the blurs form back into far off buildings. It came to a full stop, connecting with the huge building to on one side, and emptiness on the other. It seriously confused him at how this thing was built rather than a stationary set of stairs or something.

"Come on." Maribelle began trotting toward the building with little hesitation.

Vaike was about to question the swift decision when something caught his ears. "Wait… Mirabelle, you hear that?"

"Hmm..?" She paused and half turned to look back. With the moving tower still, they were back in total silence. But something else was moving, it faintly whispered. Metal. It was like the slight ring of two forks clashing together. These noises were unmistakable, and Vaike grew more and more excited at what they implied.

The lady didn't seem so caught up. "I think I hear it… what is it?"

"Fighting. It's the sweet tune of two weapons meeting for a dinner date!" Vaike said with the return of a bright grin. He turned and perked his ear into the air. It was coming from below them; the stairs.

Vaike flew down the spiral stairway, leaving a confused Mirabelle in the dust. He skipped steps as the sounds began to become clearer; this was the right direction. He tightened the grip on his axe, double checking that it was still in his hand and ready for a test run. He knew he was ready.

 _Finally, some damn action!_

The stairs were incredibly long, but he didn't stop until he reached the very bottom. Nothing was there except a single path forward. The noises were even clearer now.

"Va… Vaike! Slow down!" Mirabelle shouted above him. She'd do well to keep up, because Teach wasn't about to slow down now. He readied his axe in both hands and began a steady march forward. Deep into the tunnel the path led into, Vaike could make out a speck of yellow light.

As he stepped into the tunnel, and let his eyes adjust to the dim light, he could make out movement in the darkness. His heart pounded. For a second, he only stood in that doorway and strained his eyes to make out what was occurring. It sounded like utter chaos, with crashes and metal bouncing off of each other.

Blue phantoms rolled and slashed in the darkness. Some wielded colossal clubs, while others had normal blades. There had to be a dozen in there. They all swung their weapons in seemingly wild directions, either hitting the floor or smashing into the circular wall of the small room.

At first, he was confused by the sight. Vaike thought they looked like untrained recruits trying to run drills. That's when he recognized it. The two soldiers they'd seen earlier were doing the exact same thing; swinging at air. Which meant…

"*Pant* V-vaike… slow… what in the…?" Mirabelle appeared behind him with her stave at the ready and looked upon the spectacle. Just then, one of the blue shadows stopped. It fell to its knees and gripped at its stomach, wordlessly in pain. As it fell to the ground, it faded away into nothing. Vaike focused on that area, making out just the hints of another being standing there. The hints were so vague, he could've been mistaken and seen absolutely nothing, but he knew that wasn't true. Just as he made out the outline, it disappeared further down into the next tunnel. All of the phantoms chased, clambering down the steps after it.

"Stay back." Vaike said. He had no idea what was happening, and didn't exactly care enough to try and think on it. But he knew that ghost was here, and that he was going to help it murder every last one of these blue dastards.

He charged into the room with his axe down low in both hands. His steps alerted a blue phantom at the very back of the mob. It turned around and cautiously made toward Vaike with a shield up. Vaike stomped past the small bonfire in the middle of the room as he brought his axe up, and then sent it careening down onto the dark blue shield. The phantom's shield as well as the hand attached was sent off to one side, exposing its juicy midsection which held little armor. Vaike immediately followed up on his attack, smacking the axe into the poor thing's stomach.

It coughed, or at least he thought it did. No sound came from the thing's mouth as it slumped to the floor and disappeared. Vaike didn't even need to wrench his weapon free or worry about guts on his shoes. He smiled wide as two more phantoms turned and made toward him.

 _Killing these things is pretty damn fun._

They came at him from both sides. One held a weird-ass curved sword that was as thin as paper, and the other had a two-hander slung over its shoulder. Both had armor, but armor wouldn't do much to protect them from The Vaike.

He backed up, letting the Two-hander smash the floor where he had once stood. The Curved swordsman rushed forward, thrusting its blade at him at lightning speed. The very tip dug into Vaike's shoulder. Fresh waves of searing pain erupted in his arm, but he ignored it. The rush of battle was in his veins. He let go of his axe with the wounded arm and whipped it at his enemy with the other. It clipped the swordsman's hands, sending the phantom back for the moment.

The Two-hander was already upon him. The ridiculously long sword came with inhuman speed.

"Wretched beast." A blur of pink dashed out in front of him. The sword crashed into Mirabelle's healing stave. The little noblewoman was sent sliding on her feet, but she remained standing as the Two-hander retracted and prepared another strike.

Vaike sprinted around her, catching the phantom's flank. He jumped into the air, and let gravity drive the heavy blade into its helmet. The skull caved in as it was thrown to the floor in a violent heap.

"Anyone else?" He said, cracking his neck and gesturing for the last phantom to step forward.

The Curved swordsman took a step back. It was obviously frightened, as it should. Vaike was about to charge when it pulled something. The phantom brought out some sort of cloth, and put it to the sword's hilt. In one smooth motion, it dragged the cloth down the blade. Suddenly, a shimmering blue light coated the entire length.

"Uhh…" Vaike found himself hesitating. The phantom started slow-walking toward them. As it did, the Two-hander who he thought had been slain rose from the ground. Its helmet was completely smashed, yet it looked right at him and joined the swordsman in its approach.

"Stay focused." Mirabelle planted her feet beside him, ready.

Vaike's wounded shoulder suddenly became very much alive with pain as adrenaline began to dissipate. The enemies were closing in. He gripped his axe and charged them. He swung.

The axe went through both of them. Vaike backed up and swung again. Again, his axe effortlessly passed them with no resistance. They stopped their approach and simply stared with their faces helmeted.

"Huh?" Vaike paused his attacks, confused. The blue phantoms began to fade, as though defeated. He blinked, and they were totally gone. They were left in an empty room surrounded by knight statues and a small fire.

"Heretic…" A strange voice called. "First thou offendeth the Godmother, and now thou see fit to trample upon the tomb of the Great Lord. I am the Dark Sun, Gwyndolin! Let the atonement for thy felonies commenceth!"

The voice fell silent, and they were left in a strange silence.

"You… killed them?" Mirabelle said.

"Y-yeah? Yeah! Cut them into air!" Vaike pumped the wounded arm into the air in victory and immediately winced at the pain.

"Ugh, you're bleeding all over yourself. Next time, don't just rush off on your own!" She waved her stave into the air and released its magic. A familiar warmth surrounded his arm as the wound stitched itself back together.

"Aaaa, that's the good stuff. It was just a shallow cut." Vaike flexed his arm and gave a reassuring smile. "What we outta be concerned about is what that voice was, and where those things went. It was like they vanished into thin air."

"Indeed…" She said absentmindedly. She started toward the hall that led deeper in.

"H-hay!" Vaike hurried forward, crunching some remains of a shattered vase as they came upon a set of steps. They led further down to where a rug sat in front of a tall doorway filled with… fog?

"Hurry, you oaf." She said. Her golden locks bounced as she quickly descended the steps.

4

They reached the bottom, both staring up at the writhing fog before them. It was definitely moving, and seemed so thick. He couldn't even see passed it. Along with the rug, some candles were lit before it. It was like some sort of shrine. Beyond this doorway were strange booms and explosions that couldn't spell good fortune.

"Uhh… ladies first?" Vaike said, gesturing with an open hand to enter.

Mirabelle flipped around. "What happened to all that bravado and bloodlust back there? You'd let a Lady dive into this… this… whatever this is…"

Vaike eyed the fog up and down. Nothing looked good about it. "Yeah."

"…Fine." Mirabelle inched closer until she was almost touching it. She brought her hand up, letting it dangle closer. Her finger tips were just about to dig into the mist when she withdrew it. "There is no way I'm going through that! It's obviously some sort of… trap, or something."

Vaike shook his head. "Whatever those blue guys were fighting must've gone through here. We have to—"

"You shall not set one foot beyond that door." A woman's voice came from behind him.

Vaike and Mirabelle both turned around to find a shadow on the steps above. It stepped down, letting the light from the fog wash over its armor.

It wasn't a Risen, or a phantom, but a real, tangent person. She was fully armored, but Vaike could tell it was female by the voice alone. She held a rapier toward them, and in the other hand she held a cloth similar to that of what the blue phantom had used. That's when he recognized her.

"You're with the blue guys!" Vaike brought his axe to bear in front of him, cursing himself to have let someone sneak up on him. Unlike last time, however, he was ready to throw down.

The female knight chuckled at this. "These 'blue people' you speak of are the Darkmoon's Blades. I'd thought you two were dead, but no matter. I shall stop you here and now from trespassing into the Great Lord's tomb." She glided the cloth along the rapier, turning it into a shimmering blue rod.

"Lady, I have no idea what you're blabbering about, but we're just trying to get back our people. You know where they are, don't you?" Vaike said. No use, she was already descending toward him.

"Your friends are as good as gone." She said, thrusting her weapon at him.

He feinted back, charging in after she sliced the air between them. She had the high ground, so he'd just chop off those little legs of hers. His axe stopped mid swing as she caught it with her weapon. The knight then flung her blue stick to one side, sending his weapon flying off to one corner. Vaike's entire body was thrown as he was caught off balance by the miraculous parry. He looked up to find the blinding blade of blue mere inches from his chest.

"Vaike!" Mirabelle cried out behind him.

"You lack discipline, swinging like a mad hollow. How is it that such a buffoon could get passed the blades that were stationed here?"

Vaike gulped. "W-well, it was pretty damn easy you see. We just came in and found they were already being pounded—"

"Lies." The blade inched closer.

"It's the truth!" Mirabelle said. "Something was attacking them when we arrived. I mean… do you really think such a buffoon could take on that many... whatever you are?"

 _Thanks._

The three were silent for a moment. Vaike tried desperately to see passed the helmet the Knightess wore, but no eyes or any hints of humanity were present. It might as well be a suit of armor they were talking to.

"If you did not defeat the Blades…then…" The Knightess relaxed her arm, letting the blade fall away to her side. Vaike let his head smack the floor in relief. He caught sight of his axe, and readied himself to dash for it and end this strange interlude.

That's when a fourth voice resounded through the thin tunnel.

"O Heretic, swathed in Dark…" That strange voice spoke again, louder and clearer as though coming from just beyond the fog. "An eternal curse upon thee…"

The fog stirred. Before long, it began disappearing into small clouds that clumped and faded away. A long hallway could now be seen, illuminated by several windows letting in the moonlight.

"No…" The Knightess suddenly rushed past them.

Vaike got to his feet and grabbed his axe. He looked to Mirabelle. "Stay close."

5

Together, they followed the knightess out into the long hall. Windows to their right filled the expanse with bright moonlight. They crept slowly, Vaike trying his best to catch any motion that may warn of a sudden attack. Mirabelle was close behind, glances back and forth with unease. The further they went, the surer he became that the ghost would pounce from behind the pillars that lined both walls. That never happened during their trek, and even when they finally made it to the end, the ever looming feeling of hostility never left.

"Master Gwyndolin! Master Gwyndolin! Where art thou?"

Vaike entered the grand room axe-first. Mirabelle came out from behind him and joined his side. They watched as the woman who'd attacked them twice ran about the seemingly empty room. She was scrounging for something, looking for someone.

Vaike was focused on something else entirely. He stared into every corner looking for the most miniscule of motions. That thing had to be in here. It had to be. The enormous box that filled half of the room had no entrances, and every window was intact. The knightess had not been cut down, and neither had they. So where was it?

It had to be in here. His gut said so and it was rarely wrong.

A clatter rang out. Vaike pointed his axe toward it, his nerves on fire.

The knightess had collapsed with her hands and knees to the floor. "Oh, pray… pray thee forgive me… I have failed you… Master…"

Her words were a sobbing mess. Vaike was struck by the emotion, and was equally thrown for a loss at what she meant by them.

Mirabelle stepped toward her, causing Vaike to jump forward and catch her arm.

"Do you wanna die?" Vaike hissed. "Stay behind me. That thing could be anywhere, and she ain't friendly neither."

Mirabelle was staring at the knightess with a worried expression. "…I… I don't think its here."

Vaike scanned the room again. There was no one but the knightess, but there were also four corners and a lot of empty space. "We don't know that. Any one of these seconds here it'll show its face. Its… invisible face…"

"YOU face it Vaike! It's gone. We lost it. And we're not going to gain anything by leaving her here like this either." Mirabelle sounded strangely sympathetic, despite her usual icy speech still being present.

"What's with you?" Vaike said, unconsciously dropping his guard. "We're facing unknown enemies in unknown places and you want to give this chick the time of day? Let her wallow in whatever she loss."

The warming expression on the cleric's face quickly evaporated. "Ugh! I can't believe how idiotic— She knows where Lissa and the others are! Is your skull so thick, so packed with ego, that your brain has shrunk ten sizes too small?"

Vaike met the insult with a rising anger. He'd had enough of being berated, not when he was constantly trying to keep themselves breathing.

"Listen missy—"

"Silence!"

The pair turned from their quarrel to find the knightess was on her feet. Her back was to them, and her rapier was still clenched in a tight fist. Her next words steadily descended in volume until they were meager whispers in the echoey chamber.

"No petty bickering shall be allowed to disturb this sacred tomb… so please, silence…"

When she turned to them, Vaike readied his axe. Before he could dish out his thoughts, Mirabelle spoke.

"We don't mean to disturb... We never meant to cause any problems." She took another step forward, shaking away the hand Vaike had forgotten was clasped on her.

"Stay back!" Vaike matched her distance to the enemy.

The knightess remained with her helm down toward their feet, cast in the blue moonlight in the center of the tomb. She still had her rapier, however, and Vaike wasn't about to underestimate her again. This lass was dangerous.

"Master…" The knightess said. Both Vaike and Maribelle quieted their clambering over each other. "He was the only one who'd accepted one such as I. The only one left in this holy site… the only one… who stayed. We were adjudicators of justice. We were the last practitioners of law in this forgotten land… now… it is not but a truly bleak memory of a once great kingdom…"

Her helm bent as far as it could, now gazing toward her boots. The brass shoulder blades hiked up a bit, as if she were stretching them in preparation for a fight. However, it occurred to Vaike, as he saw the wetness trickling from the eye slits, that she was weeping.

"He gave me… he gave us, everyone … Hope…even if it had to be done through lies."

Vaike was disarmed. By those tears and words, the indomitable enemy he saw melted away into a pitiful thing. What could he do now? No one messed with the Vaike, but…

"…I'm sorry." Mirabelle said.

He glanced behind him. The look in her eye was one that spoke for itself. She was asking for him to shut up. He let his axe arm lower, and the blonde royal blood took the lead.

"I'm sorry this happened. Whoever you loss…they were clearly very dear to you."

"What do you know?" The woman's voice resounded with fervor. "You foreign invaders… it all started when you arrived. You are to blame for my master's downfall."

"No, we're not!" Maribelle threw one hand to her side, and the other to her chest. "We came… we… well actually, I've forgotten why exactly we came here… but we didn't kill your master! There's something else slaying your people."

"…" The knightess remained silent.

Maribelle gave a look to Vaike. He only motioned to continue. Now wasn't the time to give up.

"… I don't understand much of anything around here. You're right. We are from a different land, with very… VERY different problems… but, I know that we'd never do something as lowborn, conniving, and despicable as fight a battle we knew was just a misunderstanding. We may be warriors, but we try our best to avoid conflict. We defend ourselves, that's it. It's taken our people two wars to learn that…"

"Maribelle…" Vaike said. He was hit with memories of battles long passed. What she was saying was only half true.

The knightess only remained where she stood, silent.

Maribelle continued. "…If… if you really were arbiters of justice, then take responsibility for your master's mistake!"

"What?" The knightess raised her helm, sounding completely confused as she looked up to them.

"Y-you heard me correctly." The cleric firmly punched her fists onto her hips as she tried to stand as tall as her short frame would allow. "We didn't kill your master. Otherwise, why'd we bother speaking with you? We were falsely accused, and the real murderer is still on the loose. Can you really honor your liege with such injustice still unresolved?"

"You speak because you want me to free your fellow soldiers, that much is clear." The sorrow was still present in the Knightess' words, but the prior confidence she'd had was returning. "Whether guilty or not, you'd have the same goal."

"Ugh… Yes but—"

"But…" The knightess continued. "As I saw you two outside of the fog, and no other foreigner would know of homeward bones, I can be sure that you are speaking the truth. By now, I am sure the true Undead culprit has long since eluded us."

Maribelle lit up with joy, turning to Vaike but then quickly recoiling back to the knightess. "What are homeward bones?"

Vaike let his axe fall away and scratched his skull. "Yeah, and what do you mean by undead?"

She chuckled. "You haughty young ones are either the land's best liars, or are indeed the most sincere. Give me a moment, and I shall guide the way to where your friends are kept."

With that, the knightess exposed her back to them to kneel at the base of the tomb's single coffin.

As soon as they were no longer face to face, Maribelle pumped an arm in the air. "Lissa, here I come!" She turned around and was caught off guard at the way Vaike was looking at her. "What?"

"Good job." He said simply. "I always knew that silver tongue in your mouth was made of ice, but I never guessed it'd be a match to Chrom."

She met this praise with ample humbleness. "Ha! Well… being persuasive is one for the many talents a noblewoman must carry if she is to get anywhere in life."

"Maaaybe you shouldn't gloat so loudly, you know, when the person you just convinced is seating right over yonder." Vaike nudged his chin at the brass armored woman.

Maribelle blinked, and then recouped her usual, frustrated demeanor towards him. "I am not being loud! I just have a melodic voice that carries very easily—"

"Perhaps," The knightess spoke over her shoulder, "you two should wait outside as I pay my respects."

"O-oh! Right, sorry, I mean…"

Vaike sighed, grabbed the cleric's arm, and together, left the tomb.


	10. Chapter 9: Pyromancy

Chapter 9

Pyromancy

"Five." Frederick said.

"Nope." Lissa brought her hands from behind her back and wiggled seven fingers in the air between them. "Try again."

"…Fine."

She smiled and hid her fingers once more, humming as she tossed and turned her hands as though shuffling a deck of cards. After a moment, she nodded to proceed.

Frederick hesitated this time. He had no clues at the correct answer, but he knew what kind of game he was playing. To read a person was not necessarily his specialty, but he'd learned a thing or two back as a young recruit spectating the occasional gambling pit the other soldiers resorted to for entertainment. The lady was getting into his head, she would use the number he'd least think of. His better judgement told him to go deeper, to expect that Lissa would go for an obvious finger configuration to trick him.

No, he'd known the young princess for far too long and suffered through too many games to know that she didn't possess a gamblers mind, and that was for the best.

"It's seven again, isn't it?"

Lissa flinched back for a moment, and Frederick gave his trademarked grin.

"N-no…" Lissa revealed her hands to show only six fingers.

"It was seven." Lon'qu said. He'd been propped up against a pillar behind her, but Frederick had been sure the myrmidon hadn't been watching their little game.

Lissa froze, then let her arms go limp as she slumped downward in defeat. "Aww… who are you? Frederick the Psychic or something?"

"Nothing of the sort, milady. Perhaps you could clarify how this will test if the poison is still affecting me?"

"Oh, right." Lissa straightened her back. "It was to… well I was just bored and you seem OK enough." She laughed.

"I'm glad to be in the care of one so knowledgeable…" Frederick's smile never faltered, but his stomach began to churn at the diagnoses.

Chrom emerged from descending the steps that led to the unstable upper story. He looked a bit restless as he glanced to each Shepherd awaiting orders. When he looked upon Frederick, the knight rose from sitting position with some amount of embarrassment. It went unnoticed.

"Orders, milord?" Frederick said. He tucked both hands behind his back and straightened his back as far as it'd go.

Chrom let a hand rest on the hilt of Falchion, as he usually did unconsciously in moments of stress. The man he'd been loyal to for so long had such quirks that were plainly readable such as this and others that only a keen eye could pick up.

"Get ready to move. We're going to keep pushing on until we find a way out of this place." Chrom said. He redirected his gaze to the lower floor where Lon'qu was primed up against his pillar, not a few feet away from several Risen bodies that laid still. "It doesn't look like there's anything to be scavenged here…"

Frederick nodded and turned to grab his only lance that would last until resupply was possible.

"What about Robin? Is he—" Lissa said.

Frederick refaced them to find the tactician following close behind the Exalt. His eyes were downcast for a mere moment, but lightened as Lissa rushed forward to greet him.

"Robin! What happened? You just rushed off. I thought Tharja had finally crossed the line or something." She said.

"Oh ah…" Robin looked to Frederick. No, he looked passed Frederick to the corner behind. "It was nothing like that. We just found something on one of the bodies."

Frederick cocked an eyebrow at this. "What did you find?"

"Did she pluck out an eyeball? Or a tongue? If she did that, I'd run screaming for sure." Lissa said.

"N-no, and I wasn't screaming!" Robin folded his sleeved arms together. "It was… it probably has something to do with the dark arts, that I know for sure. She clung to like it was…"

"You?" Chrom said. He smirked at his own joke, though Frederick knew he was only stating a fact.

"Yeah…" Robin sounded distant as he stared once again to the corner.

Lissa giggled as she left them, slightly oblivious to the tactician's vacant gaze. "Be glad she isn't clinging to your back for the first time since she joined us."

She descended to the lower floor. She joined Lon'qu to promptly plant herself on the adjacent side of the pillar. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, mimicking the swordsman. He promptly pushed off the stone and relocated to the further pillar.

"Oh come on, we're moving on in a minute anyways. Get back here!" She chased.

"Away woman. I can speak with you from this distance." Lon'qu's cheeks weren't rosy, but they would be soon.

Frederick sighed and made toward the door they'd be exiting from. Chrom and Robin were exchanging routine plans from what they could gather from peeking outside. Frederick listened carefully, but as he did so, he cast a momentary glance to the corner.

The woman squatting there had her dark hair along with her entire back pointed outward. Her hands were cupped to her face, and her shoulders bounced ever so softly as though she were crying. Frederick knew this to be untrue, as the sounds that whispered in his ears were not sobs but light giggles. He could imagine the unsightly facial expression that was hidden behind those hands easily, as he had the misfortune of seeing the dark mage become enraptured in whatever twisted thing had caught her fancy today.

Tharja cackled in her corner, unaware of his gaze.

Frederick shuddered in his armor.

She had helped them then, back when she first turned coat to their cause. Chrom had trusted her, and though he didn't dismiss his suspicion because of this, the Exalt hadn't been wrong yet in who he recruited. An example in dark purple robes stood just a step away. And for that, he'd learned to give people "the benefit of the doubt" on occasion. That was what he should do. That was what Chrom was expecting of him, and what the late Lady Emmeryn would have wanted.

Frederick looked on no longer and faced forward.

"Sounds good. Ready to mobilize?" Chrom said. His stance suggested he had asked this to Frederick.

He realized he'd missed half if not the entire preparations.

He nodded anyway.

2

Outside, the picturesque landscape loomed far beyond. The moon was still planted overhead, in the exact same position as it always had been and always would be. The air itself bore stillness as though it were natural. Not a muscle moved on the undead clinging to the spiked wall of the long abandoned fortification.

A head peeked out the doorway, disrupting the perfect stillness. To the right, a thin path leading to the circular tower that was the tallest building here, along with a bridge leading out to a similar one farther away. Something blocked that path, though Kellam couldn't see it from where he stood. To the left, another corpse rested in the path that led to a quick dead end.

As they had done until now, they'd have to follow the one path given.

The knight turned his head back and waved an "All clear". He disappeared out of the doorway, slowly trudging right with loud steps.

Robin gulped and steeled himself. In front of him, the ever ready Chrom and Frederick had their backs to him as they inched toward the door. Behind was Lissa, and clinging to her shirttail with two fingers like a lost child was Tharja.

Lissa had somehow gotten her up and moving. Though her eyes never left that thing in her hands, Tharja didn't look as insane as he'd feared she had become. She wasn't raving anymore, a blessing from whoever ruled this land perhaps, and though her mouth cringed into her devilish grin perpetually now, he was semi used to it.

 _I'll just have to hope she snaps out of it when we're in the thick of things._

Lissa noticed his glare, and gave one thumb up. "We're ready."

Robin nodded, caught a glimpse of Lon'qu in the very back of the lineup, and turned around again to exit from the tower back into enemy territory.

Outside, Frederick stood above two bodies. He looked in danger of clanging against either the stone wall or the spikes with a shoulder blade. "An ambush attempt. Be wary, there may be more."

"Good work…" Robin hadn't even heard fighting.

Frederick did a short nod, not in gratitude but in the sake of getting a move on. Robin returned the nod anyway and trotted down the short steps to the base of the circular tower.

Kellam stood and poked his head into the open doorway. "Wow…"

"What do you see?" Chrom was just behind him, trying to get a view beyond Kellam's armor.

"It's huge, and totally emp- what in the-!" Kellam jumped back, knocking Chrom almost off his feet.

Chrom gasped and regained his footing. "What? Huge and empty?" Chrom planted his back to the edge of the doorway as he glanced inside, letting his voice drop to a whisper.

Kellam stuttered a bit, pointing with the one free hand not holding his lance at the doorway.

Robin furrowed his brow and took to the other edge opposite of Chrom. "Watch our backs, Kellam." He gave the order, and was thankful to feel in control of the situation again.

The interior was spacious, but it wasn't empty. The lone spiral staircase led only upward, though the opposite side of the circle had one that led down. On these steps, high above their heads, Robin could make out black feathers. He blinked, trying to discern more, but the angle was all off.

"Crows?" Chrom asked, clearly confused by the knight's panic.

One pile of black feathers moved, slowly revealing a wing, and then the rest. The head was of a crow, yes, but the torso and beyond was fleshy and naked of feathers. It was human sized, maybe taller than either him or Chrom. From this distance, Robin could only make out that it was neither human nor risen, and he wanted nothing to do with it.

"They don't look like the birds back home." Robin said. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his forehead to his cheek, and he realized he'd been slightly spooked by the thing high on those steps.

"Y-yeah…" Chrom agreed. "Let's try the bridge. I'd rather not add harpies to our list of worries." He inched away and signaled the rest to follow.

Robin glanced only once more, to find the bird-thing that was probably a harpy wasn't there anymore, but more black blobs of feathers still rested at the very top of the steps.

The clearing behind the tower was much more welcoming. The open air held no chances of surprise attacks, unless the risen were clinging to the very edge of the icy ledges, which was a real possibility. Two pillars topped with roaring fires lit the area which already had moonlight. The bridge that extended out and away was old and cracked in places, as every structure here was. At the very end (or the middle, Robin couldn't say) something blocked the path. It was far, and too blurry to make out except that it was purple and black and big enough to be considered a boulder.

The Shepherds spread themselves out, not letting their guard up as they scouted the area.

Robin stared out toward the thing on the bridge, not feeling a very pleasant premonition from the sight. Chrom joined him after Frederick discovered a stairwell leading down and back into the tower.

"That's the way out, isn't it?" Robin said. It was mostly to himself.

Chrom smashed his eyelids together to try to make out the thing in the distance. "Maybe. I hope it is, at least that way we have a direction to go that's away from this place."

Robin took a few cautionary steps forward. A few corpses lay strewn about the path, cold and dead. Feet pattered behind him as Chrom followed. Robin threw a hand back, to ward off followers but the blue haired man slapped it away and threw one of his own behind both of them.

"Everyone, stay here, keep this area safe." Chrom said.

"Milord." Frederick gave a curt nod of acknowledgement, and the Shepherds gave no objection.

Chrom turned to Robin. "C'mon, let's check this thing out." He strode passed Robin with big steps, too eager for the tactician not to notice.

"Slow down," Robin called as he hurriedly caught up.

Chrom did, but only by a fraction. "Come on, faster we can get this thing out of the way, the faster we can get back home."

 _Already assuming this was the correct path._ Robin groaned in his mind, but smiled as he tried to keep pace. Robin was fully aware of the type of speech Chrom used to goad people, but found that it still worked even if you knew the trick behind it.

He tripped, almost fell to one knee or even straight off into the abyss below, but caught himself with a short hop that regained his footing. He looked down to the floor to discover a risen hand—no, a corpse's hand outstretched and sprawled at a disgusting angle. The body was a dark black, not like many of the bodies he'd seen until now, and seemed bloated somehow despite the skinny frame. He realized it was on top of something.

He knelt down, calling for Chrom to halt his advance but too intrigued to look to make sure his message was received. He scooped a hand under the body and flipped it over as quickly as he could, wanting nothing more than to have gloves at his disposal. The limp body made barely any sound as it was shoved aside, revealing the item beneath.

It was a bloodred shield with dirty steel lining its edges as well as a basic design on its front. A symbol of a droplet of blood was centered in the middle, giving a sense of vampirism that really didn't fit a shield, something meant to protect. It wasn't surprising that it was a design not of Ylisse or Plegia or any other country, though he could imagine a Feroxan using it.

Perhaps this belonged to the troops stationed here; the ones who ran the place before risen conquered it. They probably were a lot like Regna Ferox, living here on top of a mountain in a winter wonderland with a particular liking of bloody battles. Or perhaps this belonged to someone like them; someone who'd been trapped and died here, at this very spot. It was a bit chilling, and seemed more likely as nothing here really fit the aesthetic of the medium sized shield.

Robin picked it up, flipped it around to find a plain handle grip, and stood up.

A rumble passed through his feet, all the way up his spine and into his ears. It brought Robin back to where he was still out in the middle of a decaying bridge. The stones beneath his feet felt looser, and an image of the entire thing collapsing shot into his mind.

Another quake, this one larger, shocked the stonework as well as the stillness that'd been kept for centuries.

Robin looked down the path to find Chrom's back too far away from him and too close to the boulder that now began to stir. Before his eyes, a wing sprouted into the night sky. It was rotten, purple and spotted with holes and tears. It was huge, large enough to beat cool wind across the distance to nip at the naked skin of his cheeks. Another wing similar to it sprung to life, though this one was nothing more than a stump with some leathery skin dangling off.

Chrom was now running.

Robin blinked in amazement, at the sheer _awe_ of the sight and turned around from once he came. The stone was still for only a moment, long enough for Robin to glance back before the rumbling erupted once more and grew in intensity. The Shepherds at the end were waving, yelling at them to hurry. Robin could barely make it out over the roars of some immense creature behind him. Even though he had a large lead on the thing, the rumblings were right behind him before he knew it. A shadow passed over him, and before he could whisper any prayer or wish for his friends, he was thrown into the air.

It hadn't been a claw, or a blast of magic that'd pushed Robin onto the safety of the snow covered clearing. It had been Chrom, who had somehow caught up to him and saved both of their asses from being squashed by the monster before them.

"Shepherds!" He roared against the quakes all around them. He unsheathed Falchion and held it in both hands before the great shadow casted by the moon's light. "Attack!"

3

Robin coughed up the dry and awful tasting snow that'd been shoved into his mouth. Lissa knelt and grabbed his shoulder to drag him, but he was still conscious and made to get to his feet.

The dragon roared a ghastly shriek that belonged to a dying man. It was massive, towering over them with a long neck and blocking the bridge with its body. Its eyes were hollow, only empty sockets that gave no hint to anything existing after them. The scales were bruised and purple all over, crusting and peeling off with every movement it made. Earlier in its life, those scales once shined brilliantly and the wings were actually capable of flight, but now it was only a husk thrashing about in its final throws of life, if it could even be considered alive.

Two claws waved around in attempts to swipe at the Shepherds who attempted to fight. This included Chrom, who was valiantly swiping the dead flesh away with heavy strikes and stabs. Kellam and Frederick were to the right and Lon'qu the left.

"Is that… The End Dragon?" A voice quivered behind him. It was Lissa.

 _If it is, then count our odds goodbye._

Robin said nothing more than, "Stay here, provide support where—"

"WoahWoahWoahWoaaah!" A quake resounded. Kellam was on the ground stomach up and desperately trying to turn himself over. Frederick focused on driving his lance into the extended claw that lay before him.

The dragon shrieked again as the weapon was buried deep between two of its three fingers, and this was when Robin joined Chrom center stage.

He dropped the shield and opened a tome in one swift motion. "Fire!" His voice was drowned out by the thing's wails, not that he minded. The fireball launched and soared just above Chrom's head. It collided with the tender meat of its chest that was already covered it slash wounds. The fire exploded, creating a flash of light and a satisfying boom. The dead skin turned another shade of black with hints of red lingering as the scales singed.

Chrom briefly glanced over his shoulder, but then quickly seized the opening to plunge his own weapon into the very same spot. The blade went all the way to the hilt. He twisted and pulled, trying to widen the wound as he disengaged.

Robin looked left to see a claw rising into the air, eclipsing the moon at the climax of its height. Lon'qu yelled something in his deep voice, but it didn't reach Robin's ears nor did it need to.

Chrom had one foot on the beast's belly trying to tear the sword free. It must have become stuck, trapped within the thick flesh or caught in some bone.

 _WATCH OUT!_

Robin ran, but had no chance of reaching him before the claw did. It swooped down with an audible gust of wind, blurred with movement, and hit Chrom in his flank with the palm. Chrom himself became a blue-white blur in the air, careening over Frederick's head. He hit the snow hard and skid across the icy ground. His hands grasped for anything to slow him down, but only grabbed air as he passed over the edge of the stone platform and disappeared into the abyss below.

"Chrom!" Many voices shrieked. One belonged to Frederick, who dived at the cliff after realizing what had happened.

Robin felt his heart sink, not fully believing what he'd seen. The dragon cocked its head back, but no roar was unleashed. Instead, as if he'd been transported to a nightmare, poison spewed from the thing's gaping mouth and hurtled toward him. He flinched inward, bracing himself. The bloodred shield stared back where he'd tossed it on the ground.

He grabbed it a split second before the wave of purple spit crashed into him. He staggered back, tucking his face under the shield as he held in out in front of him. The liquid passed to either side, washing at his shoes and dissipating into hot steam.

When the pressure let up, he peeked out to find the dragon coughing up more of the stuff, but not at him. The basin where Lon'qu had been occupying was buried in dark violet.

Robin dropped the shield once more and aimed a palm at the thing's neck, meaning to silence it for good. With his other hand, he brought out the heavier spell, the one he should have started with. The words began in his lungs and surged through his throat in a yell that could be heard above the guttural screams of the dying beast.

"Arcfire!" A pillar of fire shot and enveloped the beast's face. Its mouth opened in horror, sucking in flame that roasted the inside of its gaping mouth and throat. Its wings began to flap away, either in an instinct to flee or try to bat away the fire.

When the fire did begin to waver, Robin shouted again."Arcfire! Arcfire! Arcfire!" His hand began to burn as the fire rose and rose in intensity. The dragon's wing beat vigorously but the fire only wavered and then grew from the fanning. By now, the skin on its face was a burning sun with two holes for eyes and a screaming mouth. The mouth opened and closed, but no sound emanated. Its head lowered to Robin, looking at him.

"Arc-"

A gush of toxin spewed against the flame in a final attempt to silence the pain. Robin closed his mouth and turned his face away, not able to bend down for the shield and not wanting to let his spell to fizzle until it was dead.

Lon'qu tackled his midsection with astounding force. Robin was on the ground again, and by the time he was caressing his head the swordsman was already back on his feet. He followed the man's grim gaze to the dragon.

It was clawing at its face, waving it around in the air only succeeding in helping the fire spread across its dead scales. The claws, then the wings caught fire and the dragon turned into a writhing fireball. It coughed up more of its poisonous saliva onto the ground and furiously tried to douse the flames on its head by smashing onto it. Both of its claws scratched at its face, leaving gashes deeper than any of their weapons had the hope of dealing.

Robin laid there for only a moment of awe at the thing dying nearby. Lon'qu appeared to be dumbstruck as well, though he could have been only slightly amazed for all Robin could tell. The smell of rotting flesh being roasted was pungent in the stale air. It stung his nose, and almost brought the little food in his stomach up to join the bile already at his feet.

"Chrom! Hold on!" Frederick was shouting in a desperate plea not too far away.

Lon'qu disappeared toward the voice. Robin paid no more attention to the dying thing, sprang to his feet and followed.

Frederick was bent over the edge with half his body sticking out into the air. Kellam was right next to him, trying to keep a good grip on the man's belt and collar to keep him from diving off.

Robin dropped down to where they were and bent over the side with them. A rush of hope filled his body where dread had been beginning to form at the sight of his friend being smacked into the air.

 _Chrom!_

The Exalt switched from glancing down to the people standing feet above him as he dangled against the mountain side. He had two hands dug deep into a scratch in the mountain, a lucky hand hold he was currently in debt to. He met Robin's wide eyes with his own terror widened ones.

"H-hay! C-c-could you help me up! Now!" Chrom yelled, only a few feet away.

"Hold on!" Kellam said.

"Hold, milord!" Frederick was trying his best to stretch the handle end of his lance out toward his Exalt. It swished and danced just above the crevice where Chrom's hands held furiously.

"Chrom?" Lissa shouted from somewhere behind.

The beast behind them let out a pitiful, whiny croak that turned into a mess of bubbling noises.

Orange light washed over their backs, casting their faces and Chrom in a dark shadow.

Robin's mind was racing.

 _It's too short. Chrom's going to fall any second if I don't do something! Think… Think…_

But a few moments later, Chrom reached with one hand and seized the lance's handle with a firm grip. Frederick began to pull too soon. Chrom let go with the hand still in the mountain and put his full weight on the weapon. Frederick lurched forward, but was caught by Kellam, Lon'qu, as well as Robin. They grabbed and pulled at any opening in the knight's armor they could find, and hauled him up as well as the cargo below.

The lance slowly rose, the bladed tip sliding down Frederick's grip to cut his gloves. More of the shaft rose from the cliffside, until a white hand popped out and gripped the snow.

Lon'qu grabbed it and brought the rest of Chrom over and onto the safety of the ground.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Chrom was the loudest. Frederick bombarded the man with worried questions, but he was fine. Robin grabbed the man's shoulder, not quite sure if he was really there. His skin was pale, the color drained from staring into the abyss he almost plunged into, but otherwise fine.

"Chrom!" Lissa cried. The cleric kept her distance, but her voice was earnest with emotion and on the verge of tears.

"Hue… I'm alive, everyone, I'm OK." Chrom said.

At this, as if to quell that notion, a roar resounded. Robin, along with every Shepherd turned to see the dragon they'd nearly forgotten about was still alive. Not only that, but it had extinguished most of the flame, leaving its scales a deep black with several tiny spouts of fire still clinging to them. Its eyes were still hollow, but they were pointed right at them. They somehow looked sharper, piercing, and vengeful. The wings had been completely scorched and fallen off, leaving the thing to look like an angry black salamander. Though it didn't have a tiny serpent tongue to flick, it opened its maw wide to reveal a charred mouth with several rows of teeth still intact.

It roared again and slowly, painfully, reached a black claw toward them.

Robin and Chrom shared a glance.

"RUN!" Chrom yelled, getting to his feet and wobbling forward.

Robin agreed, and silently thanked the blue haired noble for acting uncharacteristically for once. "Retreat down those stairs!"

He turned and ran. A whiff of air nipped the back of his neck and gave him goosebumps as the claw's nail barely missed opening his neck. The Shepherds ran as the beast behind them pounded across the clearing. It was massive, the distance was negligible to such a thing, but even so it was too slow. One by one, the Shepherds disappeared below.

Robin looked back only to confirm Kellam, the last to waddle his way to safety, made it to the skinny stairs that led back into the tower. He caught sight of the thing's face yelling at them, clawing to get his revenge.

He could have sworn it was staring right at him the entire time.


	11. Chapter 10: The Light

Chapter 10

The Light

The empty tower was filled with exasperated rasping,

and the echoed pounding outside. The ground floor had nothing, just more snow and some cover overhead. There was no roof, giving Robin enough to fear that the beast outside would climb up and shower them all in poison. He stared up the tower as he caught his breath, but for now, no head popped over to say hello. The black feathered harpies cawed and shrieked above, but none descended.

"Why didn't you aid us?" Frederick was on his feet, pacing to and fro after scouting the room twice. For a second, Robin didn't know who he was addressing.

Then he caught sight of Tharja tucked in a corner next to a fog gate. It had caught him off guard when they'd entered, but it wasn't speaking as the other did. Just like the locked gate at the farther end of the room, it appeared to be just an impassable door… Which meant the being that'd spoken to them must've lain beyond the fog, and wasn't the fog itself. Robin couldn't imagine what it must look like, whether it was a god or a mage of considerable power.

"Are you even listening?" Frederick said. Tharja once again paid no reply, but did glance up briefly and shot him a glare.

 _So she can hear us._ Robin mused to himself.

"Knock it off for now, Frederick." Chrom sat with his sister clinging to his arm. Her face was buried in his shoulder, his hand petting her head in comfort. He lowered his head and whispered. "We're all alive, ok?"

Lissa sniffled. "I thought you'd… you looked like a rice sack being punted like that and I thought…" The tower shook again, causing a bit of rocks to crumble down and shower them in dust. She buried her face deeper, and Chrom sighed.

"Apologies," Though Frederick didn't seem to be apologetic at all. "I am only concerned a soldier is not performing her duty to protect you, to even assist in the slightest!" He had to shout over the quakes, but his expression told that he would've been yelling regardless.

"You… to…ve… een… it." Tharja's voice was a mumble, her eyes still gazing into her palms.

"What?" Frederick said.

Tharja raised her eyes from her palms to glare right at Frederick. "I said… you seemed to have been handling it. And you did. Bravo."

"You could have aided in saving milord, could have done anything than stand and then flee along with the rest of us." The knight was absolutely livid, insulted by her callousness and no longer tolerating it.

"Like you really expected me to run out and risk being swiped off like all of you nearly did. I did what I could, but I doubt my hexes even got through that thing's skin." Tharja said, surprising Robin the most. Had she helped? He had been too preoccupied to notice, but thought it was very possible that dark magic had little effect on such a creature.

"I seriously doubt that. You were too busy with whatever's in your hands." Frederick stepped toward her.

She pulled back, cupping her hands tight as to protect the dark thing inside.

"Both of you shut it!" Chrom shouted in a rare moment of his frustration bubbling over his tolerance, at least when it came to his own troops. Even so, he gently eased Lissa off and stood to engage the two. "I don't want to hear any more about what did or did not happen. Focus on the task at hand."

Frederick shut his mouth immediately. He and Tharja shared another nasty glance, but neither said a word.

Lissa stood, wiping away the last of her relieved tears to say, "S-she did though. After everyone went off after you, she distracted it." She looked down at the dark mage. "Thank you, Tharja."

Tharja was already staring into her palms again, but she had no grin. It was like she couldn't focus, couldn't enjoy herself with all of this noisy blabber around.

Robin smiled. "I'm glad you're still with us. Sane, I mean."

Tharja rolled her eyes.

"I think it's about time you told us what has had you so enthralled." Chrom said. Everyone stared at her expectantly.

Tharja flinched from their gazes. "R-really? Now, when there's a dragon knocking at our doorstep?"

To punctuate her point, a heavy quake shook the entire tower. A section of stone high above crashed down and smashed into pieces.

"Yes." Chrom said, not an ounce of humor to be found.

Tharja grimaced, muttering a curse under her breath. She opened her palms just a little, letting the dark diamond become visible but also still firmly in her grasp.

"It's…" Lissa began, but got lost staring into it.

"It's amazing." Tharja said.

"It's horrible." Robin was surprised the words had been spoken from his own mouth. As he stared at it, he couldn't help but decide it was evil, something that they shouldn't tamper with.

From the faces of everyone except the Plegian, he guessed they all thought the same thing.

"It's the manifestation of the darkness within us all..." Tharja began. "The darkness, the evil, the Humanity. So many past hexers… so many have tried to transform their energy into a physical form. All have failed. It simply isn't possible. The laws of our world doesn't allow for such a thing. But this world… This world is teeming with darkness, and it's growing. I can feel it. There is so much… that it gets heavy. It's sticking together, like sap from a tree, and getting heavier and heavier. That's how it's possible, yes it must be. That's how it works." Tharja wasn't really speaking to them anymore.

When her mumblings tapered off with her breath to leave, only the rumbling of the tower filled the air between them. And then, even that ceased. A few more pebbles fell away from the structure, leaving the tiny impacts to echo in the sudden silence. The harpies above cawed a few last caws and quieted as well.

"Tharja." Robin said.

"What?"

"You won't be able to whisper sweet nothings to it if you're dead." Robin put bluntly. "When we get back, you can do whatever you want. I need your help until then."

She looked between the darkness in her hands and her previous source of darkness that stood in the black robes. It was no contest when it came to size... but it wasn't that simple. What was in her hand, despite being visible and tangible, was infinitely smaller compared to the dormant energy within the tactician. She'd become so infatuated by the newness of what was in her hands that she'd almost forgotten how brilliant, how aweing it will be when that dormant flower blooms. She needed to be alive when that happened, and she needed to be there, beside him when it did.

Tharja pocketed, gently, the Humanity into an empty tome pouch. She got up and dusted herself off. "Fine."

"Then we march. Let's put some distance between us and that thing out there." Chrom said. He moved swiftly to stand before the fog gate. "Ready, men!"

Robin couldn't stop himself from smiling, and while he wished he could crush that little black diamond out of existence, he was glad Tharja wasn't lost.

The Shepherds once again took formation, the same formation they always used.

Chrom raised his sword with both hands gripping its handle.

"W-wait." Robin said. "Maybe it isn't such a good idea to cut—"

He brought the down sword as he pushed forward. The blade itself passed through as if… well as if it were cutting fog. When his body hit the misty stuff, however, it burst and disappeared.

2

"What do we do!?" Chrom yelled. A spear whizzed by his head, flying through the empty air in the narrow doorway and pierced into the dirty snow behind them.

"Ahh…" Robin tried his best to find an opening, but there were none.

Another spear flew. It reflected off a piece of Kellam's armor that stuck out as he took shelter in the cranny of the doorway and nearly plunged into Lon'qu's side.

Another spear flew, then another. The steady volley was unrelenting.

The dozen of horrifying Risen that were outside were armed with golden shields and a seemingly infinite amount of pointed sticks. From the little Robin could gather before they became under siege, they looked just as any other Risen, only their bodies were abnormally large and square. Out of their bodies, various weapons were imbedded in a grotesque display.

 _First a blob that spits poison, now a bigger blob that hurls spears… what's next?_

"Lon'qu!" Robin said. The Myrmidon had his sword ready. "I need you to dash out and distract them!"

He nodded, peeked out, and then sprinted while keeping low to the ground.

"Now!" Robin waited for Chrom, Frederick, and Kellam to file out before bursting through himself.

The air was filled with sounds of clanging metal. Lon'qu was on the ground gripping at his leg, a bloody spear lying on the snow. The three defensive units still in play were smashing the phalanx of Risen. They tried all they had, but most of their strikes clanged harmlessly against the shields and were returned with counter attacks of a half dozen spears. For every attack they snuck behind the Risen's heavy defense, several spears connected between the gaps in their own armor.

It was clear who was winning, but they had gotten free of the doorway.

"Find cover!" Robin called. He lobbed a fireball over the three heads and into the mass of flesh. To his dismay, a shield rose out just in time to stop the blast that would've torn several Risen apart. The owner of the shield's head rose with it, and looked at Robin with hollow eyes. Robin was sure it was acting on instinct alone, preforming the drills it had been taught before it died.

He casted another fireball anyway, giving time for Tharja and Lissa to recover Lon'qu and disappear around a few cement blocks behind the phalanx. Chrom, Kellam, and Frederick followed them, and Robin hurried to catch up.

He threw himself behind the cover, barely dodging a spear that planted itself right where the cement ended.

"Can't we… haa… Can't we get a break?" Kellam took second long peek from cover. He retracted it as several objects flew passed.

"If only we could break their formation…" Robin didn't dare peek himself.

 _They'll run out eventually. Yes, wait out the siege. They can't possibly keep it up for long._

But the clanging of metal tips onto the cement blocks inbetween really didn't help to affirm this theory. That was when he noticed something strange. Not the Risen, but the cover he hid behind. With closer inspection, their purpose was clear. They were prison cells.

 _What the hell is wrong with this place…_

"Argghh…" Lon'qu righted himself to sit on the snow with one bloody leg tucked in.

"Lon'qu! Your leg, let me heal it." Lissa brought her stave close to the wound.

But he brushed it away. "No. I'm fine. Save it." He said, his steady voice only hinting that he was in pain.

Lissa looked to Robin, asking silently for an order.

He didn't have time to mull it over. They needed Lon'qu up and moving. He gave the nod, and Lissa began to cast the magic.

Lon'qu silently accepted it, knowing the stave was near its breaking point.

A spear flew high overhead to land far off. Robin could tell from the trajectory that it'd been thrown close. They were advancing.

"Well, we're dead." Tharja said while clenching her tome in the fetal position.

"No, not here." Robin slid his back against the stone as he stood up. He worked up the courage and peeked out. A spear came close to gouging his eye, but he didn't flinch back. He took in all he could see, and was pleased at what he found.

The Risen were advancing, but in an unorderly fashion. Whatever past tactics they had been taught had been forgotten in a mere five seconds and it was clear that the things were just another group of braindead Risen. Several had their backs to them, as though they'd already forgotten where their targets were.

One came around the corner, to which Robin invited.

A fireball escaped his palm and slammed into its unprotected spear hand. The skin and meat melted inward. Flashes of white enveloped the creature, and it vanished.

Robin went back into cover, blinked in confusion, and then turned to his comrades. "They broke formation, attack their exposed backs!"

3

"AAAaaaaaaagghhhh…"

The last Phalanx Risen died yelling, alone next to the strange statue they'd all been huddled around. Every monster vanished as they had been slain. Dozens of short-spears lied on the ground, as well as some shields. Many were disappearing as the monster themselves had, but some remained behind.

Chrom stretched his sword arm over his head. "Gods, those things were durable."

"Indeed." Frederick was already gathering the spears. "They'd been much more effective had they remained a cohesive unit."

Lissa peeked out from cover. "I doubt Risen have any sense of team work. They always just throw themselves at us. Well most of the human enemies we fight do that too…" She eyed the statue up and down, as she had done with the knight's in that dark castle. "Huh. Doesn't this look like a mother holding a baby?"

"Is it Naga?" Robin asked. He'd spent plenty of time researching Ylisse's religion, though he wouldn't call himself an expert. Libra and other Shepherds would often surprise him with yet another custom or teaching that the old religious texts didn't cover.

Lon'qu was kneeling next to a nearby gravestone. There were dozens planted in the thin snow. "I wouldn't be surprised if this place was built by Grimleal. Though, I know little of such things."

"It isn't Naga," Tharja said. "And isn't Grima either. Maybe it's this land's goddess. Who knows? I'd be interested in getting my hands on their holy book if it has anything on this baby…" She had the Humanity cradled to her bosom, mimicking the statue.

"We can ponder later." Chrom was already on his feet, not a bead of sweat on his forehead. "Now that we have control of the center, it should be easy to explore the rest. We'll make this statue our rendezvous point—"

"Why not make that bonfire our spot?" Lissa interjected.

"U-uh, well, while the fire would be welcome in this cold, that'd mean back tracking all that way! The door was locked, too, so…"

Lissa pointed with the hand not on her stave. "You mean that door?"

Everyone followed her finger to where it led not too far away. The opposite side of the first gate they'd found was right there, plain to see. Robin cursed himself for not making a better note of it earlier, though they'd all been a bit preoccupied.

"Oh…" Chrom said, nodding in both realization and approval. "I hadn't noticed. Well then…"

He stiffly trudged through the snow, his sister snickering a little after him. Everyone followed, hopeful of the chance to feel that magical warmth, despite not understanding why. Robin began to follow, but noticed one Shepherd absent.

Lon'qu was lingering by the graves. He wasn't reading them. The text was beyond readable, just scrambled etchings in the old stone. It wasn't obvious if they belonged to the past prisoners, or the guardsmen. There might not even be bodies buried under the stone. The only thing that was certain was that these were memorials of men who once lived, and now their names were forgotten, eroded by time.

The swordsmen stood from where he kneeled and began to walk, not giving another glance to the graves. When he passed Robin, he stopped.

"The next time I'm injured. Do not waste it on me."

Robin tore his eyes away from the sad cemetery and faced the myrmidon's back. "… I needed you in that battle—"

"That wound could have been tended to without the use of her stave." Lon'qu said. He sounded as calm and steady as ever. "What I'm saying is… you must save it for greater wounds. I can fight one legged. I'll crawl, if I must. Any Shepherd would, as I've come to realize since joining you."

"I… I know. I will. But Lissa needs someone to protect her, right? She can't heal herself." Robin scratched the back of his head. "That's why we need you in tip top shape, most of all."

While he didn't want to see any friend in pain, he knew he couldn't allow for wasted uses of their only stave again. The man was right.

Lon'qu, with his back still turned at the tactician, threw a sideways glance. A smirk had crept upon his face. "She won't be harmed. I won't allow for such a thing to ever—"

"HAAAY! Why are you two standing around, let's go!" Lisa shouted, waving her arms. Frederick and Chrom swiftly quieted her from alerting the entire fortress to their presence.

Lon'qu sighed and began forward without another word, Robin following close behind.

4

Frederick placed two hands on the wood and pushed. He heaved and hoed, and eventually the gate began to budge. The gap between the two slabs increased until they could see through to the other side, right where they began. He pushed until the gap was barely wide enough to traverse, the weight proving to be much larger than he'd anticipated. He collapsed onto his knees with his head down once the job was complete and took a cursory peek out.

The first Risen's body was still there, where the knight had slain it.

"Woohoo!" Lissa cheered, passing the heaving Frederick. "Shortcut, unlocked!"

"Lissa!" Robin half whispered, half yelled after the sprightly cleric. "We don't know who or what can hear you."

"Aw, c'mon. They're all dead here, anyway. We gotta celebrate when we can, I say."

"Your voice carries on the wind like air… fitting for an airhead." Tharja crept through and found a corner to hide in.

"Hay now, no need for insults." Chrom briefly patted Frederick's shoulder and stepped through. He had a jovial smile about him matching his sisters.

Robin scanned to find the area was just as they'd left it.

 _How long has it been? Thirty minutes? A couple hours? Feels like days…_

There was a loud thud, and everyone turned to find its source.

"A-ah… hah hah… little help, please?" Kellam was wedged between the heavy doors. That suit of armor was just a tad too wide for many situations.

"*sigh*… grab my hand." Frederick went to work yanking him out.

Lissa and the rest began down the short steps, not offering to help.

Robin shrugged and followed. There wasn't much room between the two hulking knights, anyway. When he made it to the top of the short stairway down, he saw the Shepherds creating a pitiful semi circle around the bonfire. All had their shoulders hunched over in disappointment.

"Awwww…the fire…" Lissa was hunched over in disappointment.

Robin wasn't at all surprised by the flames being extinguished, but had kept some hope that it would still be there, waiting for them. "Guess it was too good to last."

"Maybe we can burn some of the spears…" Chrom had one hand cupping his chin as he fixed his gaze on the black sword buried in the ash.

"We could burn everything we have, but I doubt it runs on wood." Tharja planted herself below the dead body pinned in the air by a thin stick of sharpened wood. It looked like she was casually resting under shade.

"Well… we need to get it up and running again." Robin didn't know why, or even question the natural urge to fuel the flame. He would later, but not at this moment, when they desperately needed it.

"W-w-whoa!" Lissa suddenly jumped back and pointed to the ground. "Did you see that?"

Everyone looked to the spot, then all around and at each other. Nothing had happened.

"What is it?" Chrom said.

"T-t-that light! On the ground! I-i-it was there, now it's not!" She sounded mad, not the normal kind. She was serious, though it was hard to tell.

"Where?" Robin said while looking all around. Nothing but snow, snow, and some dirt lay below their feet.

"I…" Lissa drifted off, her skin paling.

Chrom put a hand to her shoulder and guided her. "Calm down, sis, just take a seat. It's been a hectic day, that's for sure—"

"I'm not going crazy, Chrom!" She puffed her cheeks, pouting as her voice increased an octave.

"Jeez…" Tharja said. "What does it take for to keep your voice down…"

Lon'qu appeared from behind Robin. He didn't say anything, just continued searching the ground.

There was no light, as far as Robin could tell. Not on the old bonfire or anywhere on the dull white ground. This wasn't one of Lissa's games. She wouldn't carry a joke to this extent.

"Where… exactly did you see this light?" He asked.

Her entire face was as pale as the snow now, like she had seen a phantom. She padded away at her forehead with her sleeve, dirtying it. "Uh… well it's gone now… maybe none of you caught it in time."

"Maybe." Robin mused to himself.

After an awkward silence, they took their seats despite there not being any fire. It didn't feel as relaxing as when they first rested there, but it was something.

"Frederick! Kellam! What's the hold up? Get over here!" Chrom yelled, and Robin threw a hand to palm his own face. Chrom picked up on why, and added in a much lower voice, "…Oh, sorry."

"It's alright." Robin said. "At least we know the area is totally devoid of Risen."

"Or they're preparing to ambush us while we rest." Lon'qu said.

"…True." Chrom said, appearing to get a bit uncomfortable where he sat. "Let's just take a second to come up with a plan."

Far away, more grunts and scraping of metal on wood were heard. Kellam must've gotten himself wedged worse than first thought. Someone should probably help.

"There!" Lissa suddenly cried. Her finger was to the ground again. "That white light, right there!"

Chrom groaned and scratched his skull. "Lissa…"

"It's true!" Lissa got to her feet and walked two steps before bending down and hovering her pointer right above the spot. Nothing was there. "Right here! Right…"

She flinched back, and this was when Robin began to actually worry she was losing it. That notion vanished, however, when he did see something.

It wasn't a light. A circle, small and perfectly round, suddenly appeared an inch above the ground. The middle was a pure black, just like the Humanity. Its outline consisted of a foggy white that swirled with some speed. The circle grew, covering more snow but stopping just before touching Lissa's foot. She retreated anyway, clinging to her stave as Lon'qu and Chrom rushed to put distant between it and her.

Everyone was on their feet, weapons ready. Out from the circle, a shimmering white light emerged. It was domed shaped, and after most of it raised out from the dirt below, Robin realized it to be a helmet. More and more rose from the circle: The helmet, a shoulder guard, a chest piece consisting of mostly blue cloth, a longsword and medium shield, until finally a pair of knee guards and metal boots. The armor rose swiftly with its shoulders hunched, but as it gained height, they righted themselves and stood proudly. The circle under it disappeared, leaving the white knight in its place.

No one spoke. It was just staring into the snow wall. Seconds passed, and Robin began to wonder if it was hollow inside. They kept their weapons ready, Robin with his tome and palm, along with Chrom's Falchion and Lon'qu's killing blade. The only sounds were Frederick and Kellam's struggle to get passed the damn door.

Finally, stifling Chrom as he was about to speak, it craned its head in their direction. Its helm made audible rasps as cloth and metal rubbed together with every little motion. It turned around, and slowly looked to each Shepherd. When it came to Robin, he found its eyes to be well hidden by the white light emanating from its armor (or was it coming off its body?). It did another sweep, and then did something none of them had expected.

It sheathed its sword and leapt into the air, shield hand pumping in joyful expression.

Robin, Chrom, Lon'qu, Lissa, and Tharja tilted their heads in confusion.

It did it again, its armor clanging loudly with its exaggerated gesture. When it landed, it nodded approvingly.

"What the… who the…" Chrom stammered.

"Whoa, who's that?" Kellam appeared at the top of the steps along with Frederick. They were as confused as anybody.

"State your name!" Frederick was down the stairs and had his spear to the white knight's neck in a second.

It threw its hands up slightly in a mock surrender. It didn't say a word.

"W-wait, Frederick…" Lissa pushed her way to the front of the line. She looked into the helm's eye slits, and squinted. She needn't look up at the thing, as she did with many knights. They were practically the same height.

The white knight noticed the girl's stare and let its hands fall away as if it wasn't in any danger. It then took a half step back and casted his head downward in a rather deep bow. When it finished, it turned to Chrom and repeated this, then did so to Frederick…

And then leapt into the air again, wordlessly celebrating.

5

"Who are you?" Chrom said.

The white knight stared wordlessly.

"Where… did you come from?"

It stared.

"Can you even speak?"

It shook its head in a prompt response.

After realizing it wasn't a Risen and wasn't going to attack, they had anxiously reseated themselves around the still extinguished fire. It sat legs crossed, back arched into a proper sitting pose. The larger sword that was slung across its back now lay across the knight's lap. It looked to each Shepherd as they briefly introduced themselves and then immediately bombarded it with questions. It answered with a nod or shake of its helm.

Progress was slow.

"Hay," Lissa said. "Did you come out of the dirt?"

It began to shake its head, but settled on a shrug of its shoulders.

"Are you here to help us?" Robin still had his tome on his lap, but kept it closed.

It looked at Robin, then gave a big nod.

Every Shepherd glanced uneasily to each other, all suspicious except for Lissa. No magic, no story or tale matched a white knight appearing from thin dirt to aid heroes in their quest. Well, not quite this literally, anyway.

"What's your name?" Lissa said.

It only stared.

"Okay… is the first letter an 'A'?"

It looked to Chrom. Then back to Lissa. It shook its head.

"'B'?"

Shake.

"'C'?"

Shake.

"How about a 'D'?"

"That isn't important." Frederick chimed in, never letting his chilling gaze off the unknown knight.

"Why don't you just write it in the snow?" Robin said, giving the obvious solution.

It stared at him. After a moment, it took one gloved hand and began etching into the snow.

 **JUNEOFAST**

It's finger stopped writing in the middle of an 'O' shaped letter. The white knight paused like that for some odd seconds. It looked off and away as if it were searching for something. The hand wiped away the half finished letter and tried again. Again it stopped, in the exact same place. It didn't try again, instead just wiped the spot and stared at it. Eventually, it lifted the gloved hand and scratched the back of its helm sheepishly.

"Juneo… fast?" Lissa said, tasting the jumble of words and finding it didn't work.

"June, of Ast?" Chrom said.

Tharja chuckled. "Quite the title. Has a unique ring to it. Ast."

The knight swiftly pointed its gaze toward her, and for a split moment appeared ready to draw its blade. It seemed to have easily read the sarcasm dripping from the comment.

"Ooooh, that makes sense." Lissa said, somewhat oblivious to the sudden malice. "Can I call you jumpy?"

"…" It shook its head, and relaxed again into its stiff posture.

Robin stared at that last letter it had tried to write.

 _Ast? It was definitely going to write an 'O'. Asto… Asto what? Can it not remember the rest?_

"June." Robin tried his best to look at where the eyes would be. "We're not from this realm. There are people who need our help, and friends who were separated from us. Can you help us? Do you know the way out?"

It stared its usual stare, and then stood up and nodded twice. It re-slung the larger sword snuggly onto its back and unsheathed the smaller blade from one belt. The knight began to stomp forward, but Lissa yanked it back by a leather strap.

"Hay, wait! I have tons more questions! Like, are you a boy or a girl? I mean… nod if you're a guy."

"…" The pause was longer than any other. It tossed its shoulders around, mulling it over, or perhaps deciding whether to answer at all. Finally, the white knight shook her head.

"Awwwww!" Lissa immediately collapsed to the snow. "Why does every mysterious shining knight that comes into my life turn out to be a girrrrl!"

June looked awkwardly to Chrom as the cleric sat crying crocodile tears.

He only sighed. "Let's move."

The Shepherds once again readied themselves and climbed the stairs. They were all tired, somewhat hungry, but still had hope. They'd found their first person who didn't immediately try to kill or capture them, and for that, Robin was thankful.


	12. Chapter 11: Wheels

Chapter 11

Wheels

They passed the field of piked bodies, the small temple-esk building with the pews and locked door, and stopped at the statue of the mother holding the babe. The snow held scars of the battle they had with the Phalanx as well as the seven tracks the Shepherds were creating everywhere they went.

"We were already here, the area is clear." Robin said. "We ran into some trouble up ahead though… uh… You might not believe this. I'll just say it. There's a dragon beyond that tower."

June only nodded slightly as she scanned the area, paying no amount of surprise that he'd expected.

Robin had pegged her as the jovial type, with her sudden bursts of joy and other grand gestures. Now, however, the white knight was serious and on guard. This, mixed with the inability to speak, made her out to be a strong silent type.

He wondered if she and Sully would get along well. Lon'qu would probably be a better fit, though. The stoic archetypes would make an interesting pair…

He shook away the thoughts.

 _Wait until she actually becomes a Shepherd, Robin. Don't jump the gun with future plans like you did with Phila… may she rest in peace._

After a moment she took off toward the gravestones, stomping on the peaceful scene without much care. He grimaced at the blatant disregard for the dead and followed tenderly.

"Hey, wait up Jumpy!" Lissa zoomed by, an annoyed Lon'qu and the rest of the Shepherds right behind her.

Robin stopped to eye the graves briefly. Much to his liking, no long dead corpses arose from their slumber.

Passed the graves, more bodies on pikes, and some trees, they found themselves staring at a short wall under the second tower they had cleared. A set of stone stairs led up to where the wall ended, but both paths that it led to were dead ends. Nothing else seemed noteworthy in this small pocket where the moonlight didn't reach.

June didn't hesitate as she ignored the stairs and continued left. In an exaggerated motion, she pointed a finger beyond the trees and bodies. Robin peered into the sparse foliage and caught sight of something.

They continued forward to discover a well hidden in the corner. A ladder was built in that led down into whatever depths were below. By the odor that exuded from the opening, Robin reconsidered it to be a latrine leading to a sewer or dungeon. He didn't know which he'd prefer.

June knelt to scrawl something in the snow.

 **Undead Ahead. Lying in Ambush.**

She promptly took the rungs of the ladder in her hands and made to climb down.

"W-wait!" Robin held up a hand. She glanced back, one foot already on the top step of the ladder. "Undead? Do you mean Risen?"

She turned around fully and stepped back onto the snow. She shrugged and threw her arms impatiently toward the well.

"How do you know there are risen below?" Frederick asked, narrowing his eyes.

"That doesn't matter right now." Chrom interjected. "What does is who is going down there. I'm afraid Kellam and Frederick can't fit."

Robin took a look at the two and sighed in frustration. Chrom was right. The hole wasn't wide enough for their wide, bulking armor.

"W-well, we could take off our armor." Kellam said.

Frederick sighed. "And what? Have the effectiveness of villagers? There's only so much we can do with lances alone."

"Oh… right." Kellam said. "My shield is too big too."

Robin shook his head. "We'll just have to make do." He turned back to June. She had her arms crossed and one boot splashing snow as it tapped. "Is there another entrance to where we're going?"

She stopped tapping her foot. When she seemed frozen like this, Robin knew she was thinking. After a moment, she nodded and pointed in a general direction behind her.

"Then we'll go through there." Chrom said.

As he declared this, June frantically shook her hand to halt. She went to the floor again and hastily scribbled some messages.

She wrote " **Danger zone, Pincer attack** " with an arrow pointed off to the left of the well. Then, she wrote " **Shortcut, Eliminating one at a time** " with an arrow pointing to the well. She rose and pounded her chest, right over her heart.

Robin furrowed his brow at the broken english, but understood.

 _Trust her. She's telling us to trust her._

This was troubling to Robin. There was a decision to be made. A decision of this nature could determine how the entire battle played out, and a battle was sure to come. What she was asking him to do was trust a stranger with the well-being of his entire troop. Could he take that risk? This all could be a trap to first divide, then conquer. On the other hand, she could be earnestly trying to help them.

The Shepherds waited patiently for their tactician to speak, more patiently than June, for they knew what the stakes were. After all, they only had shot at this.

"…Fine. We'll do it your way." Robin said. Even if the risk was high, he felt the odds in their favor. He was banking on their companion not betraying them, but he felt confident both he and Chrom could handle her if it came to that.

"But Robin!" Frederick said, taking a step toward him. "We shouldn't split our ranks. It's too dangerous."

Robin shook his head. "We'll be fine. Here's the plan. Kellam, Frederick, and Tharja will guard the exit. Lon'qu, Chrom, Lissa, and I will follow June."

"Fine by me." Tharja said as she leaned against the stone stairs. "That pit reeks of disease. Try not to catch anything while your diving, Robin~"

"Chrom…" Frederick said.

The Exalt stared down into the well with a frown. "If Robin believes it's the best option, then it is so. But man… it does stink. Count yourself lucky, Frederick." He patted the disgruntled knight's shoulder and made to the ladder.

Frederick seemed as if to say something to his liege, but only silently saluted and faced away to begin guard duty. Kellam gulped and nodded, also accepting the commands.

"Ok." Robin said, turning to June. "Let's proceed."

2

The stench was worse than Robin had expected. He had naturally acquired a sort of tolerance to the stench of death in his time fighting Risen, but even so… he had to fight just to keep from spewing what little food was in his stomach.

His foot splashed into a thin puddle of dirty water as he stepped off the ladder. The walls were green with moss and grime. With the absence of any cells or torture devices, it was safe to assume that this was the fortress' sewer system. Thankfully, it was now out of use and was mostly devoid of waste, even if the smell lingered.

The thin hall definitely wouldn't have accommodated Kellam or Frederick's armor, let alone their lances. It barely allowed for swordplay.

"Look out below…" Lissa whispered as she slid down the ladder, the hem of her dress brushing Robin's back.

The small hall was quickly packed with bodies. When Chrom descended, he pushed passed his sister to be third in line. Lon'qu would cover the rear.

June had her shield up a few feet in front of Robin. The white glow around her illuminated the area, giving no need to for a torch.

He tapped the shoulder that wasn't covered by a pauldron. "We're ready."

She nodded. Taking tentative steps forward, she peeked into the next hall and stepped out, her armor barely scraping against the walls. She faced left, and then flipped right in a half of a second.

An uproar of clanging erupted. In the moment that it started, something spinning collided with June's shield. Sparks flew as metal spikes scratched against the metal at a terribly high speed. June held her ground for some seconds before side stepping the blur of motion to let it disappear to the left. After a moment, the clanging stopped and the halls were silent once more.

"What was that?" Chrom made to push passed Robin, but the tactician put a hand to wait.

Instead, Robin was the one to join the white knight into the hall.

He could barely see it in the dim light. It was circular, no it was holding something circular. It was a wheel, and the actual enemy was walking with it imbedded into its body. When it stepped within radius of June's light, the brown skeleton flipped into the air, somehow landed on the wheel and rushed toward them.

June pushed Robin back into the short hall and absorbed the impact. June, as well as the skeleton disappeared to the right.

"W-what the—" Robin fumbled. Chrom caught him before he fell backwards. The sight had simultaneously scared the shit out of him as well as cause a thousand questions to flood his mind.

He put them aside for now, and rushed back into the hall. June was barely keeping her shield from being tossed aside as she held her ground. He could make out the blur of a skeleton spinning along with the wheel, clinging to it as if in danger of flying off.

He opened a tome, but too late.

The Bone Wheel Skeleton loss momentum until it slowed down and stood up on its two legs. It turned around to face Robin, a much easier target who possessed no shield. Just as it leapt into the air to begin barreling toward him, June's sword scraped the roof of the hall and came smashing down in a diagonal swipe. The wooden wheel as well as the skeleton were torn in two splintering messes that flew off in every direction. After many pitter patters of debris landing in the shallow puddles, silence once more filled the air.

Robin looked on at the mess with disbelief. Chrom made his way into the hall and looked with him.

"What in the… a skeleton?" Chrom said.

"Yeah…" Robin said, and then quietly added, "How does it even move…?"

June pushed passed the two, as though nothing was peculiar about a skinless, fleshless Risen.

Chrom patted Robin's shoulder and shrugged onward, following their guide.

Robin followed as well, all the while trying to rationalize the thing's existence.

"Woa…" Lissa said from behind him. "You're right. So weird…"

"Don't touch it, you'll find a way to cut yourself." Lon'qu said. "Stay behind me."

"Yeah yeah…"

They came to a four-way intersection. June stepped into the middle and turned in ninety degree rotations until she found all to be clear. She never let her shield down.

"Where now? We're right behind you." Chrom said, now in front of Robin.

The white knight looked in all directions again, some longer than others. She seemed to be deciding.

"I hope we don't get lost in this place." Lissa said, pinching her nose as she stepped over a puddle.

As she said this, June nodded to the right and made down it.

Chrom followed. "Huh?"

When Robin turned the corner, he made the exact same sound. June had her shield raised in front of a dead end. She stood like that for some seconds, allowing for the Shepherds to gaze at her somewhat disappointedly.

"Robin." Lon'qu called. "What do we do?"

"Uhh…" Robin stammered. Just then, their guide glanced back over her shoulder.

 _Ready yourself._

The silence suddenly became ear splitting as everyone stood still, waiting for something to happen. It remained this way until Robin broke it. "Get ready…"

Chrom sighed. "Alright… I don't know how we're going to follow her into a dead end—"

June slashed the rock wall in front of her. It immediately disappeared, leaving a newfound opening into a much larger room. A skeleton was standing directly in front of her, and as the rock vanished, it sprung into the air and crashed down toward her.

June was caught with her shield down as she tried to recover from the swing. The spikes that lined the wheel dug into her side, momentarily slowing it as they became caught in the armor. She was tossed to the wall in a heap as the skeleton tore free and continued down the hall.

"Hug the wall!" Chrom shouted. He held out Falchion in a vain attempt to halt its advance. Sparks flew once more as the spikes endlessly clashed against the sword.

The Shepherds did as they were told and hugged the cold stone, creating a path. Chrom held the thing off for another second before side stepping as June had done. The skeleton launched down the hall, its clatter following after and dissipating into echoes.

"Aaaa!" Lissa's voice cried when the skeleton passed. A sickening tear filled the hall.

"Lissa!" Chrom rushed back after it.

 _No._

Robin checked on June. She was resting against the wall, fumbling for something in the many packs and belts around her waist. Just as Robin was about to turn and aid his friends, he noticed something ahead. Inside the large room, a shadow moved.

Another blur of motion shot out of the dark, scraping against the ground with hideous noise.

She noticed the noise before seeing the enemy, and simply stood her ground and braced her good arm for impact. Robin opened his tome as he stepped passed her.

The flame met the spinning monstrosity just as it was about to collide with the tactician. It exploded in a bright blast that momentarily lit the area in an orange hew. The wheel changed trajectory, spinning away while fanning the small flames that clung to the wooden spokes of the wheel.

Robin watched as it fled. What he saw filled him with sudden dread. As the burning wheel lit the rest of the vast room, shadows could be seen in between the pillars that held up the fortress above. The shadows were circular, with thin bones holding them up. They were everywhere.

He glanced back to find June holding a Humanity, of all things, in the palm of her hand.

"What are you—"

Before he could even finish, she crushed it. The white mist that once surrounded the black, evil thing now swirled into the air and flew into her. She shuddered, flexed her left arm, and stood up as though she'd never been injured.

She gave a short bow of thanks to Robin, and tilted her head at the glare he was giving her.

"Lissa, are you…" Chrom's voice was a whisper down the hall. Robin forgot about his disdain that very second and rushed toward the sound.

"I'm alright, I'm alright." Lissa said. Her skirt had a gash in it, but no blood stained the white and yellow fabric. "This thing saved my legs from being torn off… heh heh." She knocked lightly on the metal frame underneath.

"It's not funny." Chrom said, inspecting for any injuries. "If it'd been a direct hit, I doubt that would hold."

Lon'qu stood before a pile of wood and bones, and was glancing in all directions for the next target. "I apologize. I shouldn't have let this happen."

Chrom wiped his brow. "Don't apologize. I shouldn't have let get passed me…"

"I'm FINE!" Lissa hissed quietly.

Robin's beating heart began to slow.

 _She's safe. Those damn things are too fast. Too fast… Everything's happening too fast._

"There's more, a lot more." Robin said. They turned to him, and Chrom nodded.

June had her back to them with her shield pointed out, but laid her sword on the wall to have a free hand to signal with. She pointed to a pillar just outside that had some mechanism attached to it. With one hand, she mimed turning it, and gave a thumb up.

"Turn that switch. That's what we're here for?" Robin said.

She nodded, and re-equipped her sword.

"… and… you're sure this is the best way?"

Another nod.

Robin returned it.

The Shepherds reformed a line behind June, now much more aware of what laid in the darkness.

Undead Ahead. Lying in Ambush.

3

Outside, the stillness was uninterrupted by the fight occurring below. The moon still hung overhead, and no matter how long it was stared at, it didn't move an inch. Occasionally, the air would sweep pass in what could be called wind, and branches on the trees would gently rustle to release some of the shite dust plaguing its leaves.

A crow sat atop Kellam's spear, as well as two more on each of his shoulders. They cawed, hideous caws they had, and searched for something with their black, beady eyes. Kellam didn't move. He'd let them do their thing, as he did his guarding thing. No point in disturbing them if they'd be back in a couple of minutes. They provided some entertainment, anyway. That's what he told himself.

When Tharja pulled out that little black diamond thing, however, the crows launched off their perches. They rested on the ground near the dark mage, hopping on the ground to leave Y shaped tracks. Kellam sighed at the loss and reminded himself to stop getting attached to animals so quickly.

She noticed them after a long second. "What do you want?"

They silently gazed at her, turning their heads in little rotations of their necks in order to switch eyes. They seemed to be looking at what was in her palm more than Tharja herself.

"Oh? You want this don't you?" She said, a wry smile forming on her pale face. She opened her palms wide, letting the birds get a better look.

One crow screeched. They hopped closer just as Tharja folded her hands and tucked them into her stomach.

"Nope. You can't have it." She said.

"Caaaaw!" One screeched.

"Beat it. You three are cute but don't get any—"

They were upon her within seconds. Black feathered wings beat all around her as the three crows cawed and pecked and scratched. She threw one hand up to beat at the creatures in a weak attempt at warding them off.

Kellam rushed forward and waved the wooden end of his lance at his former friends, and Tharja. After he whopped one and she yelled a curse or two, they dispersed and flew off.

"Wow…" Kellam said, exasperated and surprised by the fierceness of nature.

"Damn things!" Tharja yelled. Her black hair was messy with strands spiraling away from where they were usually knotted together. The thin fabric on her arms and legs had holes and tears of a variety of sizes.

Behind them, Frederick smirked. "Perhaps you ought not to gloat about what you possess, unless you're prepared to lose it."

"I don't need your Ylisse proverbs… wait." Tharja paused, and then scrambled where she sat. "Where is it!? Where'd it go!?"

It took Kellam a second to figure out what she was looking for. "Maybe you dropped it in the snow? Or the birds took off with—"

"Ah!" She produced the Humanity from where she had expertly hidden it in a pocket before the attack. "Safe and sound…" She returned to gazing perversely into it, all frustration at the attack gone in a flash.

Kellam stood there for some time, then backed off and returned to his post next to Frederick. As he did, Frederick stepped forward.

"I'm going to find the alternate path." He said bluntly.

"B-but orders were to—" Kellam was cut off.

"But the master said for the dog to stay put, didn't he?" Tharja said, her smile gone as she stared into her palms.

"I do not expect you to follow. You can hold this position without me. I can't stand by and wait while they are in danger." Frederick began to trudge through the snow with slow steps.

"Buuuut orderrrrrssss…" Tharja called as the knight passed her. Her wide grin blossomed again as the knight's face reddened.

As he passed her, he muttered over his shoulder. "For once, orders be damned."

To this, Tharja collapsed in laughter.

Kellam watched as the knight continued off and away, unable to find the words to make him stay. Instead, he looked to the maniacally laughing women who scared the bilberries out of him.

He trudged forward, exhaling a long sigh that could've been mistaken for the wind.

4

Chaos. Utter chaos.

All around him, wheels were flying across the ground. They tried to defend against the onslaught, but even in the open ground where they could move freely, they couldn't see the enemy coming until they stepped within range of June's light or little light that seeped in from outside. The battlefield was a mess of yells, shouts, and the clatter of spikes scraping across the ground.

One made its way from the darkness toward Robin. He dashed out of its way, letting it slam into the wall. It stopped, brought its skeletal body right-side up and stared at Robin with hollow eye sockets. But then it quickly shifted to the exposed back of Chrom, and cackled as it leapt into motion.

"Look out!" Robin yelled as he threw a fireball to intercept it. The spell whiffed. The Risen was too fast.

Chrom turned toward the warning in time to bring his sword around to meet the attack. He held the spinning wheel against the flat of his blade for only a second, before pushing it to the side to let it careen back into the darkness.

Robin put his back to Chrom's, and tossed a Fire aimlessly. The Exalt was breathing raggedly from the constant guarding, and his hands had several cuts from stray spikes. The cycle would continue this way until they could get a hit in, or they collapsed from fatigue.

A few feet away, June had her hands on the switch only to be caught by a wheel that glanced off her flank. No blood came out, and no yells were heard, but Robin knew it had been a nasty blow.

"Chrom!" Robin threw a spell across the air to the wheel that'd injured her. It was gearing up to finish the job when the fireball shattered it into dozens of pieces.

"Yeah!" Behind Robin, Chrom was holding off yet another enemy.

"I need to help her! Keep your back to a pillar!"

Robin pushed and made toward the knight. He could hear several wheels clattering by as he made his way deeper into the room. He brought out Arcfire as he reached her.

June brought out another Humanity as a wheel came barreling toward them.

"It's time to tip the scales!" The fire jettisoned out to momentarily fill the entire room with light. He didn't watch as the wheel was engulfed in flame, and instead tried to count out the enemy that remained. The fire dissipated as he closed the distance and stood next to the knight.

 _Six. Or seven. Too many. No time for tactics. No time for anything, damn it! I can't even get a read on these things!_

"Watch my back, I'll watch yours." He said.

The knight, obviously, didn't say anything, and when Robin noticed the white light fading away he turned around to find her going deeper in.

"Hay!" Robin called.

She stopped, took the time to point at the pillar Chrom was posted up against, and then continued on.

"You can't go off alo—"

The clatter of several wheels rolling washed over his voice. He rolled in a random direction, any direction.

Wetness covered his back as he got back to his feet. He fired off another spell that hit nothing, but revealed two skeletons glaring at him.

He cursed and retreated behind a pillar. The two wheels collided with the stone and flew passed in either direction. Before they could stop and re-adjust course, Robin dashed forward.

Chrom deflected another one as he was pressed against a pillar.

"Chrom!" Lissa called from the opening they had entered from. Lon'qu stood with his killing edge ready.

"Stay right there, Lon'qu!" Chrom yelled through exasperated breaths. "Damn these… hah… these things don't let me get a word in edgewise…"

Robin emerged from the darkness and took to one side of the pillar. For the moment, no skeletal wheel was coming his way. He looked all around, searching for what June had pointed to.

 _Come on Come on Come on…_

That's when he noticed it. Right beside him, literally right beside him was the mechanism. He didn't hesitate as he put his free hand on one of the four prongs and twisted. It didn't budge. He stuffed the tome into his robe and grasped it with both hands. He gritted his teeth, realized he was not the best suited for this, and twisted with his whole body. It finally turned with a loud click, and with that momentum Robin turned the ever living shit out it.

When it suddenly stopped, a rumbling began as the rusted chains and gears connected to the switch churned. Whatever it had done, it had done. They needed to get out of here.

"Retreat! Fall back into—" The adrenaline filled Robin failed to hear the oncoming skeleton over the noisy rumbling. When he finally did sense it nearing him, He put his hands out in front of him, but with no sword or shield, he was defenseless. The spikes dug into his arms, tearing flesh and spilling hot blood as he was thrown to the ground.

5

Kellam set his spear aside and wiped his forehead. Skinny Risen corpses lay at his feet, and further down the path was the ever vigilant Frederick who had anticipated the ambush.

"Not here…" The knight turned around and began back tracking. Kellam only gave one last glance to the dead enemies and followed.

Frederick bumped into a barrel, and immediately crushed it with a kick. "Shouldn't have wasted so much time. Should've gone down these stairs from the start… should've gone sooner…"

Kellam gulped as he struggled to keep up. "H-hay? We'll find them. Just calm down, you're pretty scary when you're mad."

"I can't calm down." Frederick said as he descended out for the small room. He didn't face Kellam as he spoke, like he was merely speaking to himself.

Kellam lumbered after him. He turned sideways as he had to do with many of the doorways and halls in this horrid place. These were times when he wished he had classed into something more… accessible. He knew those to be only dreams, though. This armor and shield had saved him just as many times as it had hindered, even if it was a little dated.

 _Not as dated as these ruins, at least._

He caught himself staring out into the vast mountain range that loomed far away. He shook the goosebumps away and ducked into the next room.

Frederick's back was to him, staring downward.

"Uh… Frederick? Sir Frederick…?" Kellam looked down as well to find a wide, perfectly cubed hole that had light glowing up from below. He instinctively jumped back, and promptly slammed the back of his head into the bricks behind him.

"Oooouch! Ssss…" He hissed, rubbing the patch of hair that would soon hold a large bump.

"Quiet." Frederick, continuing to stare downward, shot a hand behind him right in front of Kellam's face.

He bit his lip, internalizing his pain. When he did, faint sounds could be heard. Kellam picked his head up to listen and found them recognizable. With recognition, came dismay. It was Lissa's voice, shouting something. This on its own would've been a good sign they were on the right path, if not for the metal clatter that echoed after it.

Kellam glanced to the tiny ladder. "Frederick, we have to get-"

Frederick grabbed his lance in both hands before leaping off.

Kellam blinked as the huge man plummeted down. A splash came from below to signal the landing, but in what state was a mystery. He urgently stepped closer to peer down into the deep pit. The blue of Frederick's armor against the dull green water below shined under the single sconce that lit the pit. He was upright, lance in hand and already moving forward.

"W-wait! Hay!" Kellam tossed his head about the room, searching for some cozy stairs he could traverse. No such stairs existed, only the ladder.

He gulped.

 _That's a one way ticket, if I'd ever seen one. And I've seen plenty._

He knew what he had to do.

"Look out below!" Kellam let both his beloved shield and lance go to crash into the thin water below. He grabbed the ladder and maneuvered his thick legs onto the sides of the first rungs. He looked up to Naga as he muttered a short prayer to his family and lightened his grip. He slid fast. After a terrifying moment, his boots splashed and his knees buckled.

He'd reached the bottom.

As he chuckled to himself, he found he couldn't hear over all the noise to his right. He looked to find splinters flying all around Frederick as something repeatedly cut into the lance the man was using to stave off death.

Kellam cursed, fumbled his shield back onto his arm and pushed Frederick out of harm's way. The spinning spiked wheel was smashed away with a good bash from his heavy shield, but stood up as though it'd only tripped onto the ground.

"Kellam?" Frederick said in surprise.

"Yes! Yes, you didn't see me there, now help me!" With his invisibility gone, the enemy would descend upon them any second, and their backs were firmly to a wall.

"R-right." Frederick reverted back to a serious demeanor. He was about to advance, when he realized the lance he was holding was cut in two. He threw the splintered stick to the ground and searched to tiny space they occupied.

Kellam was pushed a step back as a charred black wheel came against the metal shield. Radiant sparks blinded him in a relentless stream accompanied by screeches as the spikes scratched into the plating. It only stopped when Frederick appeared beside him and drove Kellam's lance down. It speared the ground, travelling right through the rib cage and breaking a few spokes on the wheel.

When it stopped moving, Kellam breathed a sigh and let his arms rest.

When it twisted its skull at them, both knights looked to each other. It wasn't dead.

Still attached to the lance, the skeleton burst into motion and spun the nearly broken wheel once more. Kellam brought up his guard just in time to not catch a spike in the face, while Frederick hefted the end of the weapon into the air. Free from friction, the wheel spun faster and faster, barely staying on the lance as it became a blur. Frederick smashed this blur, along with their last spear, into the wall beside them. An explosion of wood and bone flew far into the vast room before them.

Kellam peeked from behind his shield. "Are they all gone?"

Frederick gasped beside him. "I believe…hah… not."

"Kellam? Frederick?"

Kellam blinked at the deep voice that yelled over the constant clatter of what must be more monstrosities. He finally got some kind of bearing on what was happening, and who it was happening to.

Far off, cast in natural moonlight, Lissa and Chrom were over the downed Robin. Lon'qu was next to her, blade out, and looking at Kellam with clear surprise.

Kellam must've looked the same way.

He glanced to the right to find the glowing knight June much closer to them. She was swinging widely at silhouettes that appeared and disappeared. They danced around her, circling like wolves on prey. One clipped the back of her ankle, and she fell to one knee. Another charged her front, but was stopped by her shield that remained raised. They remained locked that way in a shower of sparks before the knight wildly threw her shield left, deflecting the spinning monstrosity the same direction. A third came, but this time was met by an equally wild swing that bore the last of the knight's endurance. The wheel was split in two and careened harmlessly passed her to fall against one wall.

Kellam charged forward. He was halfway, shield in both hands and no having no idea what he'd do without a weapon, when one of the enemies circled back around to crash into her exposed side. She was thrown to the wet ground and run down the full length of her body. The white armor instantly bore holes that bled no blood. Kellam saw her hand go up. It reached out for the sword she'd drop, before it fell limp. The light that engrossed her armor began to fade, and in just a blink of an eye, only darkness remained where she'd once been. The section of room was suddenly very, very dark.

Kellam's heart sank, both in sadness and in sudden terror. Even though he could no longer see, he could feel the hollowed skulls looking at him. The room had fallen silent, save the murmurs of the rest of the Shepherds far away. It was like a gesture of honor from the horrid things to the fallen knight, but Kellam knew that was only wishful thinking. His knees began to quake, causing a light rattling, or was that the skeleton's cackling from just a few feet away?

A rough hand grabbed Kellam's collar and yanked backward nearly throwing him off his feet. At the same time, three different eruptions came chasing after them.

Kellam could only gasp and hold his shield firm as he was forcefully dragged. Dim light began to come into view, and just as the silhouettes came from the darkness, he was pulled around the corner and fell back into the tiny pool of water. He glanced back to find himself back inside the small pocket of space.

Frederick didn't release the man's collar until they were both on their feet. His other hand held the lit torch he'd torn away from its metal holder. "On your feet." He said to Kellam, and then to someone far away, "Go! We'll hold them off!"

Kellam saw the retreating figures of Chrom and Lissa with the limp body they carried. Lon'qu was the one who met their gaze, standing between guarding the royal family or aiding his friends.

The three remaining skeletons stopped beating their spikes against a nearby wall and turned toward them. Kellam stooped low and braced his knee along with his entire upper body against his shield, and was still knocked back as they crashed into it. He slid on the wet floor, only being able to recoup his footing when Frederick braced his own weight against the shield.

Dozens of spikes chipped at the metal, trying to crack the outer shell of the only thing keeping them from digging into the armored men in it. Kellam and Frederick didn't dare let up their strength, even as the wheels slowed and backed away only to regain momentum. Frederick blindly bashed the torch at them with one hand, but soon threw it to extinguish on the ground in favor of upholding the barrier. The small pit they'd found themselves in was steeped in dark, only the flashes of sparks giving some light.

Kellam peeked over. Lon'qu was gone.

He chuckled as he brought his head back down. "We did it, I think."

The shield jerked, and they slid further. Kellam felt the wall with the back of one foot.

Frederick's mouth was bit into a snarl. "Aaagh! Hah... We're losing ground."

"Yeaaaap…" Kellam clenched his eyes shut as another round beat his shield to a pulp. The paint must be long gone, and many layers of good metal scratched off along with it. Any moment now, and either he or the metal would give.

"Go." Frederick said.

Kellam opened his eyes again. Frederick was staring right at him with seriousness.

"Up the ladder, I'll follow." The blue knight said.

Kellam shook his head. "That isn't going to work!"

"That's our only option!"

Kellam looked to the ladder. It was wooden, firmly built. It could probably hold one of them well enough.

Only one of them.

He looked back to the man, and sighed. "I know we don't hang out much, but—", the wheels pounded again, throwing the inside of Kellam's shield right into his face. He shook off the pain in his eye. "—But… it's been fun. Being a Shepherd."

Frederick opened his mouth, but closed it and simply nodded.

 _I'm done for…_

"On three." Kellam said, not very sure what they meant to do when he reached that number.

 _I wonder if…_

"One." Frederick said, his eyes full of content.

"Two…" Kellam wished he could be so ready.

 _Anyone will notice… I'm gone._

Both knights howled as they gave up the last of their strength to knock away the three Bone Wheels. They clattered onto their backs, then stood back up to face the knights. Kellam hefted the shield high over his head.

"AAAAAAaaaaaa!"

Green light flashed. Kellam blinked, and found only himself yelling into the darkness. Frederick was gone.

The skeletons clicked their teeth in laughter. In unison, they threw themselves at the knight.

Kellam closed his eyes.

6

"EeeeeyAaaaaa!"

The piercing screech of an adolescent girl rang out through the night sky, sending dozens of crows into the air cawing in panic.

Kellam realized it had escaped from his own throat, and then realized he was still alive.

He opened his eyes to see what he least expected, besides being in his bed back in Ylisse. He was back at the well he had been stationed to guard. Lissa was standing directly in front of him wearing a pair of wide eyes as she clutched a small wand. Frederick was on all fours, looking up at him with cold sweat dripping off his nose. He had a smile. Chrom, Robin, Lon'qu, Tharja. They were all there, looking at him.

Kellam's face went to resembling a tomato. "I—um… I... Heh…"

Lissa was the first to break into laughter. "Hahahahah! Kellam…" She doubled over, tears of joy falling onto the snow.

"I was… going to…" Kellam stammered. The rest of the Shepherds, even Robin as he lay on the floor clutching his stomach, chuckled.

"Milady, she…" Frederick said through ragged breaths. "She saved us."

Lissa returned upright and wiped away the wetness from her face. She rushed to embrace Frederick, and then Kellam. "I'm so glad you're OK…" She said quietly. Kellam limply accepted the hug, still confused. It wasn't until he caught sight of what was in the cleric's hand that he understood. It was a rescue stave, a small one.

"You disobeyed orders." Chrom said. "But that can be discussed later, after we get out of this mess. I'm just glad we… wait, what of our guide?" He looked urgently to Lissa, who in turn gasped in surprise.

"Oh, shoot!" She fumbled the miniature stave to face the bright red orb at its tip, but Kellam shook his head.

"She's gone."

A silence fell. Lissa looked at him in disbelief, and then checked the orb anyway.

Darkness was all that could be seen.

"No…" Lissa said, dejected.

"It's a pity." The voice that weakly croaked was that of Robin, Kellam realized. His face was grey, and his lips a frightening blue. Red was seeping onto the snow from the holes in his robes. "She didn't know anything about fighting in a group. But she did help us…"

"He's losing too much blood!" Chrom scooped his arms under the black robes and hoisted him into his arms.

"What? I just healed him!" Lissa said. "Was I too late…"

Chrom didn't answer. "C'mon, we have to get him somewhere safe."

 _The bonfire._

Kellam blinked at the strange thought. He didn't have time to ponder it, as they began to move.

Another thought came to his mind, one he was more curious about. "How'd you know I was down there, too?"

Lissa spoke over her shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"W-well I mean—" A pat on his shoulder silenced him.

"How could anyone forget the heroism of Sir Kellam?" Frederick strode onward, not giving another glance. Other matters needed attending to, after all.

Kellam watched them go, paralyzed by the recognition.

Lissa turned slowly to face him, and smiled a bit despite still worried for their tactician. "And also Lon'qu told me he saw you, heheh." Her laugh was weak, but still teasing, as she flipped back around and turned the corner.

He let out a deep sigh, but grinned all the same as he trudged through the snow after them.


	13. Chapter 12: Nightmares

Chapter 12

Nightmares

Darkness filled the world.

Here, light had no power. Here, nothing existed to be seen.

Here, he dragged his numb body to walk along the invisible road. He was not dead. The excruciating sting of cold that kissed his shredded arms told him that. Even so, the stilts under him moved without reason toward nothing. His mind was nearly gone, but could still work out where he was.

This was the nightmare. This endless void which spanned in all directions had always been at the back of his mind, itching as though it were a scar that always remained fresh. He'd found himself here other times, he could still remember that. The warmth within him had not yet been snuffed out.

Never before had it been like this. All the times before were just glimpses into the abyss, little reminders of what would come later. Those times, he'd hear the voices, and the sharp pain would congeal at the front of his mind.

This time… He was inside. The nightmare had come true. Despite his best efforts, his best prayers… somehow he ended up here, walking aimlessly for an exit that didn't exist. No one was by his side. No one was coming to save him. No one but he walked this hell…

But he wasn't alone.

"Finally…" The voices came from behind him, but that had little meaning. Their voices were female. They were male. One spoke in his own voice, and they all spoke as one.

He stopped walking, knowing the End had come.

"You've come unto my domain, without any effort on my part. What a surprise!"

They laughed. The cacophony echoed out from every direction inward, pounding not against his ears but his mind. He fell to his knees onto nothing. He collapsed onto nothing. He lay there, breathing in nothing, and waited for the cold to spread throughout his body.

"It is time for us to finally join as one." They whispered somewhere above him. "I was fine biding my time, letting you mature to be a vessel capable of my power, or maybe even follow in my footsteps, but I guess I don't have much time now. Well... I guess it's YOU, who's run out of time. Hehehehe… haha—HAHAHAHA!"

The cold crept to his arms, then his shoulders. Suddenly, a jolt of pain ripped across his spine, and he found he couldn't scream. The numb, tucked away part of his mind he'd unconsciously held in began to envelop everything else. The darkness began to swell within, taking away what little memories he had made in his short life and made room for the vast amounts of knowledge he had acquired in previous ones. Flashes of terrible, awful memories soared passed as they were dumped into him without care, and there was nothing he could do to ever stop it.

"Robin?"

He opened his eyes to the realization that he could see. Far away, the tiniest of gold, shimmering light had been born. It was a star among an otherwise empty universe. He reached out for it, tried to grasp it and was horrified by the wounds along his arm.

"What?" They snarled.

The spark of light grew, and the cold that gripped him lessened. He watched as the wounded limb returned in color, and the gashes stitched themselves back together. A warmth welled within him, and reminded him that life existed. Weight lifted off his spine, and he didn't hesitate to stand.

The light only grew more. It broke apart the black void and cast it in breath taking white. The rays bent and waved, and turned into a roaring pit of flame that was gushing from a single point. He found himself being blinded, but didn't shield his eyes as the warmth turned into painful heat and scorched the skin on his face.

"Robin! Robin… please…!"

He could make out a crying face within the flames. No, there were many, and all were peering down at him from a world beyond this void. He waded through the dark between him and the flames with thick strides that brought him closer and closer.

"No!" The voices roared one last time, lunging and grasping onto his shredded robes in desperation. He could hear the hands made of darkness being singed as they vanished within moments of coming in contact with the brilliant radiance.

The flame reached its apex as he reached out to welcome it.

2

Robin bolted upright, waking with a start. Lissa was kneeling beside him, glowing in the bright fire light. He looked everywhere. The eternal night sky above was shrouded by Shepherds standing over him, watching with worried faces. Chrom was knelt over as well, but sighed and dropped to his ass in relief. He was wiping something off his face with the back of one hand.

He was alive. Still trapped in the painting, but alive, and with friends.

"Robin!"

He blinked and was thrown to the snow again as a mass of yellow came upon him.

"H-hay! I'm OK, ok?" Robin said, patting the girl's back.

"We thought you were gone!" Lissa cried. "I patched you up, but you didn't wake up and, and…"

"You looked pretty dead for a second." Tharja said with a noticeably serious demeanor.

"Y-yeah…?" Robin looked away from the dark mage.

To his left, the small flame of the bonfire twirled as it had when they first entered this cursed place. The heat that radiated onto his face was infinitely more comforting than any summer's day. It didn't singe or burn. Even with Lissa atop him, this warmth felt close to his heart. He knew that it wasn't any healing that'd brought him from the dark void.

Robin blinked at the light blots beginning to form in his vision. His mind raced with questions. Questions of whether he had died, and how he was alive now. Questions of why and how. He was unaware that they were the very same questions thousands of past undead have asked themselves before, and never received an answer.

"Found it relit." Chrom said, following his gaze. "Glad you're not dead, friend."

Robin let his mind rest, and smirked. "Thanks, you too."

Chrom eventually tore Lissa free, and the Shepherds sat among the fire. The chilly air was pushed away by the somehow nostalgic warmth. Robin felt they were near the end of this trial, and soon would leave this rest spot forever. The bright sun over Ylisse was sure to fill each of them with the same amount of comfort, and so he didn't feel sad as he assessed his troops and equipment for the coming venture.

"June did not make it back." Frederick stated simply, like pulling a bandage from a still fresh wound.

Robin frowned, "I'd guessed so. I was with her until she went deeper in. Who knows why…"

He'd meant it as a rhetorical question, but a voice spoke up and answered. "I saw it."

From behind Frederick, Kellam dropped the bundle of gathered Phalanx spears and plopped onto the snow. "She was fighting those… bone circles, or whatever they are. They just kept coming and coming. I couldn't reach her in time and…"

"She drew them away from us." Chrom had a hand covering his mouth as he stared into the flame. "When Robin went down, none of them came after us. I hadn't noticed until now."

"What a hero." Tharja said, her words dripping with sarcasm. "While all of you were partying downstairs, those flying rats came back."

"Flying what?" Robin said.

To answer, a crow perched atop the body that loomed overhead viciously cawed down at them. It was staring right at Tharja.

She hissed back, folding her hands to the pocket that must contain the Humanity.

Frederick shook his head. "I seek orders, Milord. Our guide is gone, and I fear we have no direction."

"Hmm…" Chrom tore his eyes away from the fire. "What do you think, Robin?"

Robin folded his arms together, and immediately found his tome of Arcfire had a gaping hole punctured in its hard cover. He brought it out, sighed, and tossed it to the ground. He didn't fret the loss, and instead chose to analyze what he still had. Frederick and Kellam had plenty of javelins. Lissa claimed to have only used two heals on him, which meant it wouldn't be long before the stave broke. She still had her custom rescue stave, which was better than nothing. Everyone else's weapons were in ok condition. They would last a few more battles, but that's when he began to worry.

The condition of the troops themselves was wavering, and he could plainly see it. Kellam had a nasty black eye, Tharja's hair and clothes were messy and torn, Chrom had bags under his eyes and dozens of scratches on his hands, and Robin along with those who went down into the sewer smelled like waste. Next to him, Lissa's skirt was torn and the ends were stained with the sewage water. Frederick's armor was no better. It still held some dried pink spots where the poison had washed over him.

They looked like shit.

"We'll just have to carry on." Robin said. "That switch must've done something. It must have opened up a passageway, or…" Realization spread across his face. "The locked door."

"What locked door?" Chrom said.

"The one in the tower." Robin said. "The one we saw opposite of the fog gate. We should check there, and if not then we'll just have to comb over this place again."

"Oh yeah," Tharja said. "Also while you were down there, that statue over there moved."

"Moved?" Robin said.

"Yes." She said, as though it were a foolish thing to question her. "It turned and faced the tower out of nowhere. I thought it was creepy, but nothing so odd to scream about."

"We haven't explored the east." Frederick interrupted. "Perhaps our exit lie—"

"THAT LIGHT!" Lissa suddenly sprang to her feet and pointed to the ground. "It's back!"

Every Shepherd stopped and followed her finger. Robin was overcome with a feeling of Deja vu. Once again, he saw nothing amiss.

"What light?" Chrom said.

"Yes," Lon'qu eyed the cleric. "I still don't know what you're seeing."

"H-hay… I think… I think I see it?" Kellam got to his feet and waddled over. He kneeled to the spot Lissa was practically bouncing next to. "What does it say?"

"It's June!" Lissa said. She flew to the snow and placed a hand on a seemingly normal patch of soil.

3

June threw her hands in the air, creating a Y with her body. She did this several times, and not once did anyone understand what it meant.

"Jumpy!" Lissa laughed. "You're alive!"

June let her hands fall to her sides, only to bend forward and then stretch her back high, throwing them up again in the strange formation.

"Hee Hee!" Lissa mimicked the odd gesture.

"Lissa…" Chrom called.

She turned around, still holding the Y shape. "What? This is great! It's… it's…"

"Impossible." Frederick said, mouth agape.

"Honestly," Tharja tilted her head as she watched the display. "I'm not surprised a magical knight that springs from the ground can't be killed so easily."

Lissa gasped and let her hands fall as she flipped back to June. "Is it true? You can't die?"

June dropped her arms and scrunched her shoulders. She twirled one hand back and forth, as if to say it was a more complicated answer than a simple yes and no.

Lissa wasn't satisfied. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you immortal or not! Spill the beans, woman!"

June retreated from the approaching cleric. She reached behind her with one gauntlet. This alerted Frederick, who was quickly calmed when she only brought out a peculiar soapstone. It was orange, and worn at the tip. Lissa paused as the knight kneeled to the ground. She rubbed the soapstone onto the snow… no, she only hovered over it. It was like she was make-believing she was writing something, an invisible message right above the snow.

"Whoa…"

While most were scratching their heads, Kellam and Lissa were in awe.

"What are you seeing?" Robin said.

As soon as he said that, the knight ceased writing. She looked up at him, giving the tactician a strange vibe at the suddenness. She pointed at him, and then to the soapstone, then to the ground. She repeated this motion a couple of times, until Robin got what she was asking.

"N-no, I can't see it." He said.

"Neither can I." Chrom said. "Why can't we see what my sister is seeing?"

June abruptly got up. She scratched some rust off her helm as she paced about the small area.

Lissa dusted her skirt as she stood. "Maybe we have an inseparable bond that links us across time and space?"

"That seems… unlikely." Robin said. It was obvious that something had occurred to the knight that would need a lot more explaining than yes or no questions could accomplish. He resigned himself to ask at a later date.

"What if we were separated at birth!" Lissa went on, "Torn away and forced to live in two entirely different realms. Oh, the tragedy…"

"… Um…" Kellam said. "I can see it too, just in case you were wondering."

"Whatever the case may be, it can wait for now." Chrom turned to June. "Before we continue, I must know one thing."

It took the knight a second to realize she was being addressed. She let the palm that had been cupping her chin fall wayside.

"Thank you for your help, but you need to know that we work as a team from now on. I don't know if you've ever fought side by side with allies before, but that's how we Shepherds operate. If we're to fight with you, you have to fight WITH us. Understand?"

The knight, with her expressionless helm masking any thoughts that might be read, extended her own gloved hand and grasped his. She shook firmly, and nodded.

Robin smiled. Chrom was always a whiz at recruiting new units. "Couldn't have said it better myself. We'll find some way to repay—"

She waved a hand in dismissal, and turned away to sit at the…

"The fire went out?" Chrom said. "It was just there a moment ago? Damn…"

Robin looked at the once lit pit to find it, once again, only to be a pile of dust holding a twisted sword. His shoulders slumped, along with every other Shepherd at the sudden loss of their comfort.

"Hmm…" Tharja mused loudly. "How coincidental that our fire extinguishes every time our lovely guest is here."

June gave a noncommittal shrug and unsheathed her sword. She reached the steps up to once again plunge into the fortress, and then turned to wait for them to follow.

"Guess we're heading off." Chrom said, trying to not to sound sour. "Let's move."

"Already!" Lissa clamored after the knight, ignoring her brother. "I need you to teach me more awesome poses. They're great!"

Frederick grabbed one javelin in hand and slung the rest onto his back. "I'd think milady would prefer to be reacquainted with Mirabelle sooner rather than later."

"Ooooh, she's with Vaike. They're fiiiine." Lissa said, stars in her eyes as she gazed at the white knight.

June stepped back a bit, wary but clearly not wanting to be impolite.

The Shepherds roused and rearmed. They were ready for what was next, whatever that might be. June began up the stairs, with the rest behind.

Before he followed, Chrom nudged Robin's shoulder and whispered jokingly, "I'm still the one in charge, right?"

Robin shrugged, and they both began up the steps—

When something roused the hairs on the back of his neck.

Robin flipped around. The fire was still unlit. The crow was still there, but very quiet. Nothing was wrong, and yet he thought he saw something.

"…Hmm? Is something bothering you?" Chrom called from the first step.

Robin was about to say 'nothing at all' but there was. There was motion in the corner of his eye, but when he looked there was only snow. Something was there, or was it just his mind playing tricks as fatigue wore him down?

As Lissa was about to make for the steps, Robin stopped her. "Hay… do you see anything?"

She gave him a queer look, and gave a glance to their rest stop. "I don't see… oh?" Her eyes fell to the ground directly behind Robin. "There's a ton of those glowy messages."

Robin found where she was looking at, and wasn't surprised to find nothing was there. It was infuriating, not knowing all the information on the battlefield. And he couldn't even discern why.

"What do they say?"

Lissa tilted her head this way and that, as if she were attempting to read a book that was flipped upside down.

"Well, they say weird stuff. Kinda hard to tell with the fancy lettering… Hmm…" She pointed left, near a wall of snow. "That one says 'Hope'. And over there, 'Be wary of Undead'. I wonder who wrote all of this…"

"Be wary of undead…?"

What could that possibly mean? The message itself was plain to understand. The author was warning of the inhabitants inside. The question was who wrote it. Past adventurers? Prisoners? Who knew. As for 'Hope'… well, Robin had to guess anyone who ended up here would need plenty of that.

"And that one," Lissa pointed to Robin's feet, where the stone steps met natural soil. "That one says 'Goodluck'. Isn't that a nice omen?" She giggled, and went to follow her brother.

Robin kept still, slowly letting his gaze wander over the scene for a second time.

"Yeah… Great omen."


	14. Chapter 13: The Ashen Heart

Chapter 13

The Ashen Heart

The last of the Phalanx faded into shimmers of white flashes before disappearing once more. The Shepherds steadily regrouped around the statue from the short skirmish.

Kellam let out an exasperated sigh as he bent down onto his knees. "Man, those guys are tedious. Once you learn the trick to them, it's just a matter… of… hah…"

Lon'qu sheathed his sword. "I believe that holds true for all of the enemies we've encountered here."

"Yeah… but still, why did they _all_ have to come back? Doesn't anything around here stay dead?" Kellam said.

June slapped the much larger knight's back, causing a metallic _THUD_. Though she had fought along with the rest of them, she wasn't the least bit fatigued. She was neither as fast as Lon'qu, nor willing to take a hit like the Ylissean knight, but she could manage herself in battle.

Robin surveyed the scene and nodded in approval. No one had taken any injuries, a result they'd have to keep producing until they made it safely back to Ylisstol, or regrouped with Mirabelle. Kellam was absolutely right. The one advantage the enemy had had over them for this entire engagement was the fact that little was known of them. Now that he knew Phalanx Risen were slow, Poison Risen were harmless if dealt with at range, and the unarmored skinny ones couldn't even penetrate their knight's armor, he could plan accordingly to each enemy. Now that he had Kellam and Frederick back, he didn't doubt they could take a second round from the Bone Wheels down below and win… Not that he wanted to.

The mother statue had turned, as Tharja had said. It had flipped a full one eighty degrees and now faced the circular tower. It was as if it were guiding those who somehow knew to pull the random switch below. To what end wasn't clear, but it was an invitation they couldn't pass on.

"Come on. We have no time to lose." Chrom said. He scaled the short steps by sets of two, but stopped when he got to the top. "Robin," He waved a hand while keeping his eyes inside the vast room, "You need to see this."

Robin sucked in some breath and wordlessly ascended up to where Chrom stood in the doorway. June's armor rattled behind him, slowly following as the rest of the Shepherds waited below for orders. As he rose, he immediately found what made Chrom pause. The once locked door they had seen earlier now led out to a new path, but that wasn't what surprised them. Among the dirty snow and rubble that'd broken off from the old stone lay several still bodies of the harpies they had seen roaming above. Their feathers were scattered everywhere, some wet with a dark liquid that must be the creatures' blood and others simply lying with their limbs contorted with no obvious incisions. All had open beaks that screamed silently, their beady eyes staring at them as they entered.

"Who did this?" Chrom asked quietly. It wasn't sorrow in the creature's death, but anxiousness that slipped from his usual stern voice.

Robin continued into the room. He glanced all about the emptiness, but found nothing. Kneeling over the bodies, he made note of what had caused their deaths. "Cuts. Slashes from a blade across the torsos…" He gazed upward. Single feathers were floating down from a dead harpy on the steps above, but nothing else moved.

"What could have done this… Who, could have done this?" Chrom said as he stared down at one of the corpses.

Robin rose and faced June. "That, I'd like to know as well."

She was scratching her helm as she nudged one of the bodies with her booted foot. It limply flipped and flopped on the snow, revealing nothing but how light the creatures were. When she noticed his eyes on her, she simply gave the signature shrug that was the answer to many of their questions: _"I dunno."_

As the rest of the Shepherds filed in, worried murmurs and repulsed gasps sounded off. Lissa was one of the repulsed, and gratefully shared this with everyone. Lon'qu grumbled something to himself, and Tharja was already plucking feathers off the ground to be examined. Frederick quickly raised a fist into the air, and everyone halted. For a moment, the entire fortress was as still as it had been for centuries.

Robin sighed, and looked to the now open passageway that led out of the tower. There, black droplets faintly stained the ground. The blood trail led forward. "There's nothing we can do but keep moving." He said regretfully.

Chrom nodded. "Agreed. Stay on your toes everyone."

With that, they continued forward. Nothing but their footfalls spoke in the surmounting silence as they emerged out onto the lower bridge. This one seemed to be free from obstructions, other than a few Risen up ahead. It was just as old and crumbly as the upper level, except this one had a roof which shielded the bright, ever looming moon from view, and had thick support structures that were just as ancient but still held firmly. At the farthest end, a fog gate was being guarded by a behemoth in black armor that rivalled Kellam's in height and girth. All had their backs to the Shepherds. While this made Robin delighted by the tactical advantage, he couldn't shake the unreasonable apprehension that also welled within him.

The exit lay before them. It was there, a tangible thing they could all now see. The enemies ahead would be defeated with ease, Robin thought. It was all so simple now. The vision of going home ran clearly through the tacticians mind, but he fought it off. The battle was not over. The pit in his stomach told him this. Something he could not see, but feel made him want to turn around, to not step another foot forward. Even though he knew this was the correct path… he couldn't imagine nor did he believe it would be that simple to leave.

Visions of previous battles ran through his head. Particular moments were relived, horrifying moments where he found the odds to be too stacked against them. He remembered all the times just before an ambush, the times when he hadn't expected it at all but also when he'd known. Any situation could go wrong. It only took a split second.

"Kellam, Frederick." Robin said, speaking low, and wholly serious. "Take the lead."

The two knights together took up the entire space of the path, leaving no room but the sliver of space between them to see ahead. Robin positioned himself in the middle, to see through this tiny gap, with everyone else close behind.

They marched slowly, quietly. The various armors clinked into the cold night, and far away came a caw that must've been very loud to have reached them. Robin wondered if it was that same one by the bonfire, pecking at the frozen bodies that hung there. A bead of cold sweat formed and ran down his cheek, making him shiver as a cool gust of wind passed through the archways and descended to the abyss below. As he tried to make out the scene ahead of them, he glanced back to find every Shepherd with a similar expression of worry on their faces. Even Lissa felt it.

The ambush was coming.

A shallow _CLANK_ brought Robin whipping his focus back to the two knights in front. They stopped in their march, and the sound repeated. This time, Robin saw the arrow bounce into the air and fall to Kellam's feet.

"A bowmen ahead… well two of them. Should we advance?" Kellam craned his neck, still holding up his shield to deflect the oncoming sticks.

"Yes. Keep this pace." The tactician said. "You and Frederick stay together. Watch your steps and don't take any—"

Then, the entire structure shook.

Lissa screamed. Robin ripped his tome open and spun around.

There, hanging upside down from the higher bridge was the dragon's head. Its roasted skin had turned to cooled, grey ash that peeled and flaked in the breeze. The holes in its neck had widened from the loss of flesh to appear as dozens of empty eye sockets that stared at them. Its real eye openings were hidden by it slowly opening its maw to its fullest extent. A roar did not come. Choked, garbled hacks and a few embers were the only things that escaped from inside its gullet.

The gigantic head, barely enough flesh to not be called a skull, coughed and hacked, spilling the last of the purple liquids still within as well as several more embers to fall into the abyss below. An orange light began to emanate from deep within.

The Fire spell collided with the monster's nose. It exploded in an extravagant plume that did nothing but singe off the last of the flesh there. It reeled back, retreating above to where the rest of the body was hunched over the edge.

"To the next tower! Run!" Robin said, preparing another spell.

Frederick punched Kellam on the shoulder, grabbing the paralyzed man's attention. They each took the lead as the rest of the Shepherds kicked into motion. Robin let them each pass, keeping his hand and tome poised.

They cursed and shouted, questioning the order which Robin couldn't explain at the moment. He didn't blame them. The obvious and natural course of action was to retreat inside. Robin was thinking ahead.

Only Lon'qu's words as he sprinted by were received by his racing mind.

"Don't die."

"Tell Lissa to ready her Rescue stave." Was all Robin said in reply.

The Ashen Dragon's retreat was short lived. It returned with its mouth open and roared out tiny bouts of smoke.

"Fi-"

Before Robin could even launch the spell, a torrent of fire came spewing toward him. He jumped back, boots and the tail of his ruined cloak becoming engulfed before taking shelter behind the first support beam. The stream of fire didn't last long, not nearly as long as Robin needed to formulate a plan. The heat melted all of the snow and ice into sudden puddles of boiling water. The floor which he'd been standing on had been given a fresh black polish which began to shake as the dragon clawed its way to a better position.

He didn't wait for it to get a better angle. He dashed out, ripping off his tattered cloak and throwing it to the wind. He bit his lip at the scorching pain each time he pounded his feet against the stone. The Shepherds were far ahead. All but one. Chrom was intentionally lagging behind, watching Robin. He waved the Exalt away.

 _I have a plan! Run! Keep—_

The stone beneath him ruptured. One knee smashed against the bricks as he lost balance. The upper level cracked as the immense beast crawled in chase, and he could feel the vibrations getting more intense the closer it got. He struggled to get up, his vision blurring by the motion all around him. When the rumbling stopped, Robin once again sprinted forward. His leg throbbed every time it was bent, but it was easy to ignore knowing what would happen if he stopped now.

The dragon's head once again drooped down. It was getting faster. It reached with the entire length of its neck in a blunt charge, as if wanting nothing more than to kill Robin as quickly as possible. The tactician threw himself to the floor, and heard a shout that could belong to no one other than Chrom.

The monster clipped one side of a stone pillar and smashed diagonally into the other, obliterating it in a shower of rocks and dust. Most of the debris fell away, but even so several stones smashed into Robin's back as the dragon retracted its head. He stood up and wasted no time in fleeing.

A chortle of surprise and rage came from the beast, and then the higher bridge collapsed. Stone crumbled and crashed as most of it fell away into the chasm below. A mixture of dust, bone ash, and snow erupted into the air in a foggy cloud.

Robin kept running, and when he made it to the Exalt, he gladly accepted the man's shoulder.

Chrom's mouth was agape, his eyes glancing back to the destruction behind them. "By the gods, that was close! Just what is that thing made of?"

"Keep moving." Was all Robin said. He bit his lower lip as he stumbled forward. Pain had begun to take effect, and he became aware of just how much his feet were in agony.

They caught up to the rest, who were busy with their own skirmish. Kellam was thrown against a ruined pillar. Here, the higher bridge was already gone, letting the moonlight wash over the behemoth Risen who smashed its sword against the knight's shield. It was fully incased in armor and toted an immense shield as well as a great sword.

Lon'qu dashed all around the large Risen, only able to distract it with slashes that found no gap in the metal. It whirled around, swinging its weapon in a wide arch that the myrmidon swiftly ducked under. He drove the killing edge across the back of its knee, but that too was armored.

June's sword clattered uselessly against its shield, but that gave time for Tharja to blast the metal face plate with dark magic. The helm flew away. The rotting head within snarled in pain, then searched for the one who'd harmed it. The Risen shoved June aside with a thrust of its shield and barreled toward Tharja, who only smirked. It raised its hunk of steel in an overhead attack. She nimbly back pedaled, as though floating on the wind. The great sword smashed the stone in which she last stood, sending fragments flying in all directions.

"I need to set you down real quick. This won't take long." Chrom said.

Robin shook his head. "We have to keep moving. If we don't, you'll probably have to carry me."

Chrom looked the tactician up and down. "You're legs…"

Just up ahead, Frederick stabbed his spear deep within the Risen's back. It roared and swirled around, unintentionally almost severing Kellam's head. Tharja threw more spells at its now exposed back. The metal exploded, giving way to a much wider opening for the myrmidon to act on. He dodged the wild swings and dug his killing edge into its back. It fell to its knee, and was then smashed to the floor by Kellam. The melee units pounded their weapons into the downed Risen dozens of times until it no longer moved.

Robin payed no heed to the savagery. He was only thankful that they handled it without him.

Lissa, who'd been a few paces behind the battle, was the first to notice the pair stumbling forward. She instantly had her expression of worry and her stave at the ready. "What happened!"

Robin tried to speak, but found that walking was taking all the concentration he had. When he only stammered out a few breathless words, Chrom spoke in his stead. "Save it for now. Let's get to the end of this forsaken bridge before we let our guard down."

Lissa kept her eyes trained on Robin. He looked away, only to be surprised when the cleric swooped in to support his other side.

"Well, come on. Let's catch up." She smiled.

"Can you still walk?" Chrom whispered, not wanting to worry the rest of the troops.

"…yeah. Thank you… both of you." Robin said. His voice was weak, his face scrunched up in agony.

They continued forward. Robin didn't look over the edge as they passed a section of the bridge that was half missing. He set his sights on the fog, and told himself they'd be home free once they made it that far. Every step was a fresh surge of pain that emanated from his toes and rose to grip his calf and thighs. Even so, they kept him moving. Without the help, he knew for a fact he would be collapsed on the ground.

They re-entered a shaded area where the upper bridge was still intact, and before long were at the steps to enter the fog gate. The Shepherds each took to their usual stances as they waited for orders: Frederick at attention, Lon'qu leaning near the back, Kellam nowhere to be seen. Their guide was waiting directly in front of the fog, as though she were eager to step through. This was true until they noticed the trio stumbling behind them.

"Is he injured?" Frederick was to their side in a moment.

"What in Grima's name happened to your boots?" Tharja asked, almost worried.

"What happened back there?" Lon'qu said.

Robin was laid slowly to the cold ground and propped up against stone railing. Here, he finally got a look at his feet. His leather boots were burnt black. Though flame retardant, the heat had definitely welded the rubber to his skin. The sight didn't alarm him much. He'd been expecting to receive some sort of damage, and was rather amazed he got away with just this.

"You don't want me to heal you, right?" Lissa said.

Robin looked up from his feet to find the Shepherds surrounding him. Chrom and Lissa were to either side, with the rest of his friends nearby. The white shimmer of light struck fear in him for a moment, before he realized it was only June. He laughed.

"I'm fine. Save it. Really, I can still—"

"Ugh! I've had it!" Lissa suddenly went to her feet and haughtily placed her hand on her hip. "I'm going to heal you whether you like it or not!"

"No." Robin spoke with an air of calmness. "Save it. That's an order."

"Nuts to your orders." She quipped. She brought her stave in front of her and began to cast. For a moment, he could have sworn he was speaking to Mirabelle.

"W-wait!" He brought his hands up to grab the rod, to wave it away at least, only for them to be slowly put back down.

It was Chrom who stopped him.

"What are you doing?" Robin said.

"Helping a friend." The Exalt said with a rather harsh firmness. He looked like he was administering particularly foul herbs to a child. "I'm not ready to let our most valuable tactician retire because he let his injuries go untreated for too long."

Robin looked to Frederick, then Lon'qu. "Somebody stop her!"

Frederick only smiled and closed his eyes. He was the only one capable of making this expression send shivers down Robin's spine.

Lon'qu looked away and whistled, or tried to. When only wind was produced, he gave up and resolved to simply ignore his cries.

Neither Kellam, Tharja, or, least surprisingly, June did anything to stop the cleric from wasting one of the last stave uses on him.

By doing nothing, they were committing mutiny for the first time in his command.

The green aura formed around him, and simultaneously the orb atop the stave cracked. The pain in his feet, back, and left knee washed away, as well as several nicks and scratches were replaced with new healthy skin.

Robin laid there and sighed before taking Chrom's hand to rise. "You know? I think this is the worst case of orders being disobeyed I've ever experienced as a tactician."

Chrom clasped his shoulder. "Well, you can put that in your report after we all make it back in one piece."

"I wouldn't have done the same for you." Robin said.

"Yes you would haaaave." Lissa chimed. "Besides, I think this thing has a little more juice." She tapped the glass orb, before realizing what she was doing. "Oh… shoot."

She looked sheepishly to Robin, who only grimaced and pushed passed the crowding Shepherds. He went up the steps and turned around. They each looked up to him, waiting for orders they would actually follow. He meant to give a speech, to say something akin to what Chrom would say to rile up morale. The final step was beyond this door, after all. It had to be.

But beyond them, far off where they had come, the smoke cloud had disappeared. The discarded, gargantuan skeleton that lay amongst the rubble began to stir. Robin watched as one claw, held together by thin ligaments and barely any muscle, was brought forth and scraped the ground. The entire bridge rumbled as a meatier claw smashed the pillars that blocked its path. More of the upper level crashed down, masking the thing's approach in another plume of dust and shrapnel.

The Shepherds put their backs to the fog, and readied themselves for combat. Robin walked to the forefront, next to June and Chrom. They had their weapons ready, but he didn't bother.

"I hope this is the way out." He said.

June looked at him curiously, tilting her helm as she had her shield up. He didn't bother explaining. It'd be clear to the rest of them in a few short moments.

The dragon emerged from the newly made wreckage and knocked the next and last set of pillars aside. The tail end of the monster, which had apparently been severed since it had awoken on the upper bridge, fell and crashed into the lower bridge before being tossed aside into the abyss. The beast chattered with broken vocal chords as it crawled toward them. Each claw came after the other as it slowly dragged itself across the weakening structure. It was when it reached the section that was already half broken that it paused. Even while stretching its neck out to its fullest, it couldn't reach the Shepherds.

"S-shouldn't we…" Lissa drifted off as she watched it.

"Ignore it." Robin declared. "We can't risk fighting here."

"I don't know," Chrom said with fire in his eyes. "I doubt that thing will take any more than a good swing. I'd like to be done with it for good."

Just as he said this, the remains of the once proud dragon launched itself forward. It latched its "healthier" claw into the stone railing, and scrambled for purchase with the other. Its mighty weight slipped off where the stone was absent. It would've fell right then and there, if not for the one appendage that clung to the crumbling stone. The skull that was all that was left of its head smashed its teeth together in a would-be roar, but only produced cracks of bone and puffs of dust and black smoke.

Robin gave a nod to Chrom and began forward, opening his tome of Fire. He stopped when the ground suddenly bore dozens of fresh cracks that spread across the old stone. He closed his book and backed off, just to where the cracks ended. Seeing him retreat, the dragon grabbed one of the last sets of pillars and attempted to pull itself back up, only to destroy it.

The stone beneath it gave in, and in one swift moment, it disappeared along with that section of floor. The gap created was wide, ending just at Robin's feet.

The air was once again silent. No sound of impact ever came from below.

All was silent once more…

Until June burst into a victorious leap into the air. With that, everyone yelled in a cheer with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Kellam was the loudest, while Tharja twirled one finger in the air in an astounding show of joy. Lissa jumped along with June, before charging into Lon'qu, who in turn blushed. He didn't tear himself away immediately.

Robin didn't cheer as he stared into the darkness below. They were now stranded. He had realized that the moment it had reared its monstrous head at them. If they hadn't gone then, it just might've just destroyed the bridge to spite them. It hadn't been Grima, no. But that only made fear grow in his heart at just what the real End Dragon he's heard so much of would be capable of.

One path was now open to them. Now all that was left was to find out if it was the right one.

He turned and made toward the fog gate, climbed the steps, and paused. As he stared into the mist, desperately trying to gather any information on the next trial, the white knight tapped his shoulder.

He turned around and watched as she kneeled to scrawl something on the ground. It was hard to see, as there was very little snow.

 **Safe zone ahead.**

 **Be wary of Charmer.**

She rose, then bent down again and added:

 **Try Jumping off.**

After hastily drawing on the bricks, she stood and pointed to the door. She wasn't the least bit dismayed by any of what just occurred, or at least didn't act like it. In fact, she seemed giddy. Everything that has happened seemed to be good fortune for this knight. It only made him wonder at what a bad day looked liked.

Robin doubted anywhere in this realm was safe, but resigned to trust the woman just a bit longer. She'd led them this far, what choice did he really have?

He hadn't the slightest idea of what "Jumping off" entailed, though.

He faced the fog and brought one hand up. As he buried it deeper into the chilling fog, he sadly remembered his cloak was gone. It was down there, resting with the dragon and rubble and anything else that had the misfortune of falling into that abyss.

When most of his lower arm was engulfed, the fog began to disappear and the interior of the tower began to come into view. He pushed deeper still, intent on finally putting an end to this.


	15. Chapter 14: A Chosen Undead

Chapter 14

A Chosen Undead

The tower held nothing but snow across its circular floor. There were no stairs or furnishings of any kind. There was no higher floor, and he had to guess there was no lower one either. A balcony was on the opposite end of where he stood, and several support pillars lined the circumference of the tower that had no rail to prevent one from plummeting below. The moonlight here was scattered as it shined through the holes in the stone, reflecting off the white dust. Much of it was missing around the center, and Robin couldn't help but notice footprint trails peppering the outskirts.

There was no bonfire, as he had hoped for when June had said this to be a "safe zone". However, there was one occupant who stood in the very center, facing them as though it'd been calmly waiting for company to arrive.

But it didn't look like a charmer.

Standing there, as if it were a statue, was a masked figure of mismatched armor. The blue-grey mask which hid all of its face had a perpetual laugh, fitting for a theater and nowhere else. A faint aura of green surrounded the silver chest piece that had a small cape attached. The cloth did not so much as waver in the stagnant air, as if it were made of heavy metals itself. Its gauntlets were a dull yellow, bringing attention to its hands that wielded a small bronze dagger and a ball of red flame. A curved sword was clipped to its waist along with a red soap stone. Below that, an unbecoming skirt of black feathers covered its legs, stopping just at the dirty feet that were naked against the stone.

Robin did not move from the doorway.

Everything about the being before him felt wrong. His primal conscience was screaming for him to avoid confrontation, to flee and comeback with a larger advantage or reinforcements or better equipment. He saw within a glance that this was not only an enemy, but one that was intent to kill. Whether for the sake of survival, or greed, or hatred, or just for the sake of it, it was going to attack. He could tell by the feet, the only visible flesh not shrouded by clothing, that it was human, and not just another mindless Risen. It could be reasoned with, but Robin somehow knew that wasn't an option.

Why was it here? Why was it stopping them? Was it with the Darkmoon Blades, or another faction in this realm who just wanted them dead for unseen reasons? It didn't matter. Either way, it wanted to kill him. It was staring right at him. Not them, but at Robin.

A gauntlet clasped his shoulder, and he suddenly realized he had been shaking. He took his eyes off the figure and watched as June passed. Her sword was drawn, and any excitement in her demeanor previously was gone.

Robin desperately wanted to drag her back, to yell out at the blatant suicide of charging ahead, but only watched the white knight go. He gave a swift order, and the Shepherds entered cautiously, staying near the exit and huddled in a tight formation.

June stopped a good distance away from the center's inhabitant. She looked left, then right, before letting her gaze rest on the figure. It didn't move a muscle. In response, she didn't either. They stayed like that for some time, all the while the Shepherds remaining poised with weapons drawn.

The knight's hands suddenly tightened around her weapons. Even now, she remained silent. To Robin, this silence told much. This wasn't what she had been expecting. This _thing_ could not possibly be the "charmer" she told of. Her entire demeanor had changed at the sight; from excitement to caution and seriousness. With her helm slightly lowered, it even seemed she was saddened.

Suddenly, the masked figure placed a foot back and bowed deeply, tucking one arm to its chest and letting its eyes fall to the floor in a clear sign of respect. The ceremonious gesture lasted an eternity, before it rose to resume its frozen stance.

"Don't." Robin said. He knew without the need of words what they meant to do. Chivalry in Ylisse was well and good, but Robin always knew to avoid it like a plague. In war, in real battles, it had no place but to even the playing fields for no reason than to preserve the pride of the winner. And he knew who the winner would be. He could see it. He wondered if the knight could see it too.

"Jumpy…?" Lissa's voice came weakly from the rear of the formation.

"What's the plan? Robin?" Chrom called anxiously.

June cocked her head sideways, but quickly returned to her opponent. Her hands relaxed as she smoothly attached her shield to a strap on her back. She grabbed the longsword's hilt with both hands and took several steps forward.

"Don't!" Robin ordered. "Don't fight him on your own. We have superior numbers… We need to fight together."

She swiftly put up a palm to silence him. Then she turned it into a fist with one thumb up, asking for some faith from the tactician before returning to face her opponent. She wasn't a Shepherd. She was an ally acting on her own volition, a native to this environment who wasn't going to follow his words, despite what happened in those sewers not too long ago.

They continued their stare down for only a moment before she accepted the duel. She bent in a much less formal bow. It was quicker, shallower in its dignity and depth.

That was all the time needed for the masked monster to sprint forward, pivot on its heels, and drive its dagger deep into the knight's spine. Her back arched painfully, and her knees buckled as the sword in her hands dropped to the snow.

All at once, the Shepherds charged.

Chrom, with Falchion in both hands, lunged forward. He sliced the air as the masked figure back pedaled deeper into the arena. Frederick and Kellam charged while flinging javelins, roaring in unison. Lon'qu swiftly held Lissa back as she tried to rush to the fallen knight. Tharja was to Robin's side before he even blinked.

"Any bright ideas?" She said. There was no sign of the Humanity as she clutched her spell book with both hands.

He took one glance at the casualty, and then began issuing orders. "Chrom, Kellam, Frederick, keep it busy! Tharja, get June to the rear."

"What do you…?" Tharja called after him, then gave a surprised, "Oh, she's not dead."

No, Robin thought, she wasn't. The knight was stirring on the ground, desperately trying to get to her feet. Even though it appeared she would vanish at any moment, she hadn't yet.

Just beyond her, a man was swinging furiously and a creature was dancing around him. Chrom stabbed, and slashed, and feinted to the left only to strike right. All of his blows whiffed air as the masked creature soundlessly laughed at his efforts. It easily maneuvered about the empty room, flipping end over end, this way and that as though it were weightless. They scattered snow dust into the air as it cartwheeled away from his advancement. It was toying with him, mocking the attempts on its life as though they were sparring or preparing for a choreographed performance.

The creature put distance between them, and Chrom finally paused in his pursuit. He was gasping for air as it calmly resumed its frozen, statuesque stance.

"Why… why are you doing this…?" He said.

It gave no reply.

"I guess that leaves me no—"

"AAAAAaaaaaa!" Three harmonious battle cries cut him off.

From behind Chrom, two javelins and a ball of fire came. The spears planted themselves into a pillar as the masked enemy bent backwards. When it righted itself from its acrobatic stunt, the Fire smashed against its chest. It was sent flying to collide against the pillar.

When Chrom glanced to his side, Robin was there with his tome open.

"Let's try to end this quickly." The tactician said. "Knights hang back. Come on Chrom, we're on the front lines today."

Chrom righted his blade in front of him. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

The enemy before them clung one glove against the stone as it stood once more. The area above its stomach was scorched black. It righted its mask from its tilted position before glaring at the quartet of fighters. Once again, it waited for them to make the first move.

Robin was keen to take that advantage.

"Go!"

Chrom charged forward. He pumped his legs, splashing snow in his wake. He reached his target in a flash and drove his sword forward to greet it. The masked thing only twisted one side of its body to evade the strike. Falchion buried into the stone pillar, just as it had done so easily with the dragon's stomach.

"What?"

Chrom had barely anytime to react as a knee was driven into his chin. His teeth cracked within his skull as blood lathered his gums. He stumbled, but successfully kept on his feet. As he wretched his sword from the stone, sending grit and pebbles onto the floor, he realized there was only empty space directly in front of him. The enemy had, within a second, delivered this counter attack and regained the distance between them.

Chrom watched as it shot into the air as some elite dancer might to evade Robin's spell. It nimbly dodged the next slew of javelins as well, letting them fly passed into the abyss below the tower.

It was then that an idea was forming. It was too clouded by the pain in his jaw, and the adrenaline in his veins to be made out, but Chrom saw something as he recovered from the stunning blow. This idea was quickly forgotten when the enemy charged toward him.

This time, Chrom was the one on the defensive. He held his ground as he tried to block the flurry of attacks that were suddenly upon him. The small dagger the masked enemy wielded was drawn across his arms dozens of times. The skill, the speed at which it operated, was too great. No matter how fast Chrom pushed himself, his blocks were at a snail's pace compared to the lighter weapon.

Its short stature was the only thing preventing his throat from being slit.

As quickly as it had gone on the offensive, it disengaged and flipped away. Just as it did, a fireball shot across Chrom's front and disappeared from view.

He dug Falchion into the ground as he collapsed onto one knee. All over his arms were shallow slashes that stung just as much as they bled. Even though the battle had just begun, he felt very faint.

"Chrom!" Robin came to his side as Kellam and Frederick kept up the barrage of javelins.

"Why…" Chrom spat out the red liquid that'd pooled in his mouth. "… why can't I hit him."

Robin swiftly took Chrom's arm and hefted him up. "That did not go as I'd hoped."

"What are you doing? I can still fight…"

Chrom's voice faded away as he examined his arm more closely. He twisted his palm up, and saw where his lower arm was drenched in blood. A vein had been cut.

"Damn… bleeding out…" He pulled Falchion from the ground with his injured arm, wincing from the pain.

"Yeah, now come on." Robin spoke rapidly, as he usually did in the heat of combat. "Kellam, Frederick! Keep it busy!"

They stumbled toward the doorway. Lissa, Lon'qu and Tharja were there, hovering over the writhing body of June.

"Stay put!" The cleric was wrestling with the patient.

Robin let Chrom off his shoulder to lie next to the knight. He plopped down onto his arse with a groan, causing Lissa to gasp in surprise when she noticed them.

"Oh come on! I look away for one second…" Lissa rushed to her brother's side and began healing him. The stave's orb was barely holding together as more cracks stained the glass.

"What's the status on our ally?" Robin looked to June. She attempted to get to her feet, only to collapse onto her back. It was apparent that, if her body were corporeal as Robin suspected wasn't the case, she would be bleeding as badly as Chrom.

"She'd be a lot better if she stayed still for a minute." Lissa said haughtily. "And what happened to Chrom?"

Robin shook his head as his mind raced. "I shouldn't have taken the chance. He was the most likely to survive a hit, other than our heavy units, but there was no way he was going to land a hit…"

"I'm right here you know." Chrom said, lifting his head as a faint green aura hovered over him. Some of his cuts were mended. Only some.

Robin would filter his words, if not for the urgency of the battle still occurring.

"You're simply too slow, crazy as that sounds. And I know for a fact that those two aren't going to—"

A pop suddenly rang out against the sounds of battle behind them. Lissa shot back in surprise as the orb atop her stave exploded. Glass shards flung in one last spark of green brilliance before turning into dull, translucent specks on the snow.

Robin's beating heart sank as his eyes met Lissa's, and together they looked to the broken stave in horror. The orb had been reduced to nothing but a circular row of sharp teeth.

"Damn…" Chrom let his head fall to the cold stone.

"W-w-what are we going to do?" Lissa quivered. "I… I don't have any way to heal you."

Robin resisted the urge to pull his hair out. He'd been expecting this to happen, but now of all times? There were no more vulneraries, no staves. He had to make it work. This was no time to panic.

Behind him, the loud crashes of javelins smashing into stone and roars from the knights hurdling them came. They would never be able to hit an enemy like that. He had to help them.

He was grasped by the hand before he could stand. It was June holding him there, digging into one of her satchels.

"What…" But Robin soon figured out what she was looking for.

She produced the Humanity in her other hand. The small leather bag in which it had been held was now fully depressed. This was her final one. If she crunched it in her hand, she'd no doubt recover. But she only held it out to him.

"Get that away from me."

That was what he _wanted_ to say. That was his instinct. But he couldn't afford to deny it based on his own fear. It was an item that healed, nothing more.

He grabbed it hastily and stuffed it in his pocket. The feeling of it touching his bare hand alone was… disturbing.

He stood up, and nodded to the knight. "Thank you. I'm putting you on guard duty for our cleric. You too, Chrom."

The Exalt slowly got off his back to a sitting position. His major wound had been healed, but they both knew he wouldn't offer much to the battle. "Go on then. Don't make me have to come save you."

Robin turned away from them. "Lon'qu, you're with me."

2

Thrust. Retract.

Kellam slammed his back against the other knight's.

 _Thunk._

A pitiful clang came from behind him.

Frederick thrust his spear. It hit nothing as its target wheeled its body away.

The masked blur came into Kellam's peripheral. He thrust his own spear. It connected, thank Naga, it connected! Even if it was only a glancing blow off the thing's shoulder plate, it was progress compared to the exhaustion of attacking air since they began.

The masked thing flipped backward and stalked around the two knights. They were back to back, near the center of the tower. Not only could they not hit the extremely dexterous foe, they could barely pivot in time to cover their blind spots alone. Good thing they weren't alone.

"Where is it?" Frederick called.

"It's on my side. I think I got it good in the arm." Kellam said, a hint of hope blossoming within his pounding heart. He kept his eyes trained on the figure as it casually walked around them. It was waiting for an opening, a moment of weakness. He wasn't going to allow for any such opportunity. He rotated to keep facing it, forcing Frederick to waddle in the opposite direction.

"Good work." Frederick said. "… All of this footwork reminds me of when I was a soldier. Lugging around equipment, heaving tons of metal on one's back. Jogging miles in a suit of armor just so it was possible to sprint when the moment was truly dire. I'm reminded of how tiring it all is. If only I had my mount…"

Kellam shrugged. "It's less than comfortable. That's true. I never got into the whole horseback riding thing. Actually, I didn't think it was even possible to do while wearing heavy armor."

Frederick glanced back. "It requires a strong stead, and some finesse. Perhaps I could teach you after we arrive back in Ylisstol."

"Yeah… after we get out of here…"

The enemy continued to prowl around them. The tiny dagger in its hand would be pathetic against his shield. While their spears could penetrate its silver armor, it couldn't do the same to them. The only venue open to it was their exposed heads, and Kellam didn't have a hard time imagining it was thinking the exact same thing.

It stopped walking.

"Get ready for round two." Kellam braced his shield closer to his body, leaving only a tiny slit where he could see over.

He blinked, and it was gone. There was a second where Kellam had no idea where it was. He soon realized it was right in front him.

There was flash of light, and he was suddenly knocked back with incredible force. His shield slammed into him, in turn causing him to fall back into Frederick.

"What's going on back there?" Frederick said, bracing his feet to keep Kellam standing.

"Oh come on! A mage?" Kellam had barely a moment to recover before another came. The flash of red, orange, and yellow fire splashed onto the metal. The very tips singed his cheeks as they lapped over the edge. The combustion made his feet slide on the melting snow, but he kept them firmly planted. The heat was unbearable, transferring from the shield to his hand to his arm. It was like holding on to a burning pot of brew. He held onto this brew for dear life, because if he let go he'd be boiled alive.

A third, then a fourth combustion came. With every wave, Kellam leaned more heavily on the knight to his back. He couldn't let go, he couldn't counter attack. He just had to hold on and—

Kellam's eyes burst open in surprise as he fell backwards. He collided hard onto the wet stone, and saw the masked thing standing over him with a ball of fire in its off hand. It brought this fire across its chest and prepared to spray it across the downed knight. It was interrupted by a lance going into its abdomen.

Frederick retracted the spear, and thrusted a follow up attack. Despite being hit so gruesomely, it didn't wait to be hit again. It evaded the strike with a mundane back step, and prepared another spell.

Kellam got to his feet and joined the knight.

"You could give me some warning before you drop me like that." Kellam said.

Frederick kept his eyes forward, his expression tense and stern. "We must act quickly."

"…True… still hurt."

His shield had melted to a startling degree. Despite that, he charged along with Frederick with the piece of metal held firmly. He ran ahead, meaning to take the hit and provide an opening.

The masked figure didn't throw a fireball. Instead, it slammed its flame to the ground. Like a scene from some depiction of hell, circles of fire appeared across the floor.

They stopped their charge too late. The pillars of fire erupted, and consumed the knights.

3

I rose to a stand, and walked closer to the roasted suits of armor lying on the ground, all the while revaluating the situation. The heavy knights were done for, but I never let an eye off the group near the entrance of the tower. They were tending to wounded, but would attack soon.

Equipping the Dark Wood Ring turned out in my favor. These quality warriors couldn't even touch me for most of the fight. One hit, that was all. That was a rather favorable trade off for two defeated enemies, was it not?

When I was directly over one of the fat knights, I got a good look at its face.

Brunette hair. Healthy flesh on its cheeks. Human. They were all still human. Everybody in this group had somehow managed to keep their humanity for this long. And they were so weak… How was this possible? Ah… of course. Their usual tactic must be to use phantoms to weaken their enemy, take advantage of their honor to fight one on one. Then, if I'd been the victor, they'd all pounced on me. Well, that wouldn't work this time. I made the first strike. I wasn't about to be fooled by their bullshit.

Below me, the knight stirred. He was still alive.

Good.

I put away my pyromancy flame, and took out the dark hand. It was a slow weapon, but the enemy wasn't going to be able to dodge it while they lay unconscious. I couldn't let this treasure trove of humanity go to waste.

I kneeled. The darkness in hand felt warm. It was a lucid liquid, slipping between my fingers as I clenched down to activate it. It turned a shimmering pink, and I knew it was hungry. It shared my appetite, and I needed only to guide it downward.

A boot splashed one of the many puddles behind me. I instinctively rolled, barely escaping the blade that swiped where my head had been. I sprung to my feet to find a light armored swordsman was next. Behind my mask, I smiled. It was the katana wielder of the party.

This would be challenging, but oh so satisfying.

"Ready?" The mage, no, the leader came to his side. Of course they wouldn't fight alone.

The katana wielder didn't say anything to the leader. Instead, he glanced to the fallen knights and then looked directly at me.

"How well will you die?"

4

Lon'qu charged forward. He was at the enemy in a mere blink of the eye. Two consecutive strikes were unleashed. Neither hit. The masked figure only flipped away. But the swordsman pursued. He didn't relent, forcing the evading enemy into a state of constant defense. One slip up and his blade would meet flesh. Even on the slippery battlefield, it had perfect movement.

"Fire!" Robin let out his spell. It exploded onto the stone passed the two. Even so, he kept up the barrage. There was nothing left he could do. No strategy would win on a field so open. No tactic could outsmart an enemy that could simply overpower them. Surrounding the enemy was gone. Their knights were defeated; no one else could ever take a hit. Lon'qu was the fastest fighter they had on hand. If he could not defeat this… thing, then no one could.

The myrmidon as well as the masked figure were a blur. He matched the thing's acrobatics, flipping and twirling about the field in attempts to land a single blow. Their feet glided against the puddles of melted snow, causing spray to shoot into the air. Lon'qu swiped and cut with precision. He wasn't slowing down, no. He was gaining traction as the movements were repeated. Tiring as it looked, Robin saw it too. The enemy was always flipping in the same intervals. Every slice of his sword was met with a dodge at the exact same time. It was as if it were automatic, that the masked figure wasn't even paying attention to the exact strikes. It seemed impossible, then, to ever hope to land a stike.

That's not what Lon'qu saw. He saw through the monster's movements. Every dodge was automatic, yes. That meant they were predictable.

Lon'qu let out another strike.

The masked figure dodged it with ease.

He sprinted toward it and raised his sword high into the air.

It flipped backward.

He waited half a heartbeat, and then threw his arms down with as much force as he could muster.

When it completed its rotation, it was cut across the chest. The silver armor did little but save the torso from being completely run through. It fell to its knee, dropped its dagger, and clenched the mortal wound.

Lon'qu smirked at such an easy maneuver being successful. He put his blade to the thing's neck.

"You're no warrior."

It had its back to him as it hunched over itself. No words came. It was a pitiful sight, because if it had taken the fight seriously, it might have—

"Kill it now!" Robin shouted.

Lon'qu sighed, and wound his blade for the execution. That's when he saw the black thing in one of its palm. The mask looked up to the myrmidon before he crushed it in a fist.

Lon'qu drove his blade down. It made sparks against stone. The enemy was gone. No, it had rolled away. He tossed his eyes all around him, and found nothing. Its dagger was still there, but even so—

The curved sword ran through Lon'qu's back in a fluid motion. No armor impeded it. It ran through cloth, leather, flesh, all the way out to the other side. Blood coated its end, and remained that way as it was torn out.

The myrmidon collapsed to his knees, without as much as a scream. Instead, he calmly whispered.

"So… this is how it ends…"

He closed his eyes, and fell.

5

"Lon'qu!"

Many voices yelled. One was Lissa's, another belonged to Chrom.

Robin couldn't choke out anything. As the monster stood over Lon'qu, blade dripping with his blood, carrying its permanent smile… it was over.

He failed.

And as it stared directly at him, he felt no fear.

Only regret.

It walked slowly, calmly stepping over Kellam as it made its way toward him. Its chest piece had two holes and a slash across it. These wounds didn't bleed. With a single item, it had recovered fully from the few wounds they had managed to inflict. It was pointless.

"Hay!" Lissa's voice again. "Over here!"

It stopped its approach.

Robin looked along with it to see Lissa wielding her broken stave as if it were a sword. Chrom, Tharja, and June were by her side.

"W-we're not… uh… we're…"

"We're not through with you yet." Chrom said.

Lissa nodded, sweat and tears pouring down her cheeks. "That's right…y-you monster!"

"You sick… whatever you are." Tharja said. "If you think you can kill our friends and get away with it, you're in for a surprise."

Robin's mouth was agape. They were ready to fight. Despite their wounds, despite their fallen friends, they weren't giving up. Even though the odds were so heavily against them, they weren't going to quit until the last man. How could he forget that? How could he so easily give up, when there were still those who needed him?

There was still something he could do.

Robin dropped his tome, and reached into his pocket. He grabbed the Humanity firmly, ignoring the pins and needles writhing within the hand that grabbed it. He suddenly wanted to crush it, but he resisted. The plan would fall apart if he did.

"This…" Robin called to the masked enemy. "This is what you want, right?"

It looked from him, to the shambled group. It was casually deciding which would be easier to take first.

"Robin, no!" Chrom said.

Robin glanced over to the remaining Shepherds as he spoke. His nerves were on fire with anticipation. "Remember… way back at that first town. We were on a bridge, fighting Risen like we always do."

"What are you talking about? Do you mean…" He inched forward. Then, he was struck with realization.

Robin saw this, and smirked. "I'm saying… I need you to play the part of Vaike."

It turned to Robin. It took the bait.

Robin dropped his tome. It fell to the floor and flipped open to the exact page he required. He outstretched his newly empty hand, still holding the Humanity in the other.

"It's time to tip the scales!"

It charged toward him.

He let three fire balls fly. A black shield appeared from its left hand, slowing its approach as it absorbed the hit. The others were too fast, hitting the ground before the enemy was even there. They didn't need to hit.

It lunged out of the fire, low to the ground with its curved sword cocked for a horizontal slash.

Robin back pedaled. Even so, the blade drew across his belly. He felt the sting, the excruciating pain, but didn't stop. He kept backing up, away from the center of the tower, away from his enemy, away from his friends. His feet stumbled, but he did not fall as he ascended the steps.

It threw an overhead slash aim at his outstretched arm. Robin dodged it, smacking his back against a stone fence. It immediately followed up with two more slashes. They each chipped at the stone fence as Robin rolled away and retreated further. He couldn't get an attack off before it was coming toward him again. That was okay. He didn't need to counter attack.

When the heel of his destroyed boot met emptiness, Robin finally halted his retreat. He still held the Humanity in one palm, somehow managing to not crush it as he narrowly evaded the thing's strikes. Time slowed as it came rushing once more. He got a glimpse of the Shepherds who were still standing. They were also rushing to his aid, but it'd be too late. Only Chrom would be necessary for the plan to come to fruition.

Robin didn't watch as he was stabbed at full force. He clung to the silver armor, dropping the Humanity onto the snow to get a better grip on the thing's neck. He held on as tight as he could, and tried desperately to ignore the pain. He looked passed the enemy, and straight into the eyes of the man who was closest to them.

"Make sure… that gets to Lon'qu…"

"No!" Chrom yelled.

When the blade was torn free from his gut, his grip loosened. He fell away, no. He was pushed into the emptiness by his killer. At the same time, the flat of Chrom's Falchion smacked into the thing's back. One moment, it was glaring down with its laughing face. The next, it was airborne. A bright sigil formed along with a green aura. Robin fell away faster than it could ever rescue him. Another sigil formed, blinding him before fizzling out above him. This was the last image Robin saw before darkness expanded from his peripherals. It grew and grew, consuming the tuft of blue yelling his name from far above. What gave him solace was that the monster wasn't too far away.

Together, they fell into darkness. And as it consumed everything, even the moonlight, he closed his eyes and waited for what would come next. Far away, in the recesses of his mind, he could hear a laughter that beckoned him. It sounded familiar, very familiar.

6

When I awoke, I was lying on cool tiles. Falling such a vast distance had given me all the vertigo my stomach could handle. I've died plenty of times by gravity, but that never meant I became use to the terrible falling motion. It was even worse when I lived through it, as I always did when jumping from that balcony.

I blinked away my dizziness to find corpses strewn about. Many were the painting guardians I had killed, but one was misplaced in this setting. It was the man who'd tricked me, who'd tried to use cheap tactics to overwhelm me and then resort to using gravity to finish me off. It was the ganking party's leader. His torso was bleeding heavily; his eyes shut and mouth agape in an open frown. He was dead, or at least seemed so. I couldn't tell for sure. His body was still here, after all, and had not yet disappeared.

I tossed my sword to clang on the ground and stumbled toward him. My back had been savagely cracked by the metal of a blade, but I hadn't been backstabbed. That, along with my aching muscles from landing so poorly made me wish for a bonfire. I smiled at that. It'd been so long since this feeling of difficulty had been rekindled. I would take a drink of estus after I dealt with this quickly, and then I'd wait for the rest of these newcomers to file in. The gallery was a very spacious battlefield, and there weren't many of them left. I fumbled the Fog Ring from a pocket and replaced the Dark Wood Grain Ring with it, turning my body transparent. It'd be fun to pick them off one by one as they cowered in the darkness.

I kneeled, drew my bandit's knife, and brought it to the exposed flesh of his neck. This fool had thought that trick would kill me. If he'd done it anywhere else but the balcony, they'd both be dead. But no, I had won against so many foes. In the end, it wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. It would be fun, however, to see where that gate lead back to. A new area to explore? A brand new adventure waiting for me? I trembled with excitement.

"A red soapstone... A child's mask…"

I sprang from the sudden voice to my left. Brass boots accompanied by a rapier charged me. I rolled to the side, but was impaled in the chest regardless. Pain mixed with surprise paralyzed me as I was run through all the way to the hilt. I felt my back smack against rough canvas, and my heart freeze from the single strike. My mouth opened, but no words came.

The woman in front of him drilled the rapier deeper as she muttered lowly. "An invisible foe… You visited my bonfire so long ago. You must have escaped my sight when we searched the chambers. I know who you are… and the crimes you've committed."

By the voice, and the helm that stared so intensely at me, I knew it was the Firekeeper.

Why? Why was this happening? Why was she here? She was to be standing at the elevator, waiting with her back exposed! Why was she here? This never happened. None of this was right. It was all messed up. This was never supposed to happen!

I didn't have the strength to bring my knife up. Actually… did I even have it in my hand still? I could feel my body fading. My body was dying, but it would be back. I would be back. I would respawn at the bonfire and make a beeline to—

I started to sink. The terrifying dread of falling backwards gripped me. The rough canvas at the back of my head had turned into sludge. It's cold, freezing grasp on my entire backside sucked me head first further and further into its dark recesses. And as I was pulled deeper, the Knightess withdrew her blade and backed away. I managed to stay off my descent for a moment by gripping onto her armor. It was slippery, but I grabbed on for dear life. This only saved me briefly, as I felt my arms disappear from the elbows. I thought they had let go of their own accord, but that wasn't the case.

They had been cut clean off.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you…" An annoyingly brash voice came. "…To not put your hands on a lady?"

With that, the rest of my body slipped into the sticky paint.

Why? Why… Then an answer came to me.

I smiled.

I realized I still had the doll that allowed me to pass through the painting. I realized that I would respawn in there, and have to run all that way to catch them in time. It brought some frustration, knowing I'd have to trek all of that. But no matter. It was actually pretty amazing. All of these new events were so entertaining. Challenge had come back with the unpredictability. The jog would be annoying, but the victory was always more satisfying the longer the wait. It always was. And when I made it out again, I would hunt them for eternity for more moments like these… they had made everything fresh again! Even this death was satisfying… even… though…

…

I realized… they had destroyed the bridge to Priscilla's tower.


	16. Chapter 15: The Fell Dragon

Chapter 15

The Fell Dragon

Darkness filled the world.

Here, life was unending. Here, death held no meaning.

Here, Robin found himself again. He was standing in the nightmare. No… this was never just a nightmare. This wasn't the conjuration of a dying mind attempting to visualize what death looked like, either. This dreadful, absolute emptiness… this wasn't the answer to the primal question. He was not dead, and he couldn't decide whether he was comforted by this, or horrified.

"YOU!" Their voice roared from the shadows, destroying the eternal silence. The single word left the vast ocean of nothingness with a haunting echo. This was soon followed by thunderous, cataclysmic footfalls that shook nothing. The location or even the direction for which they were coming was indiscernible. Nothing but the faint glow of blood warned of the approaching beast.

"THERE WILL BE NO RUNNING THIS TIME. WE WILL BE JOINED, AND FINALLY TAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS."

A cloaked figure did not emerge, but something thousands of times larger. Its red eyes pierced the dark as its elongated neck lowered. Colossal horns passed Robin on either side, trapping him between their blades. The four wings flapped ferociously, throwing not a hair out of place in the airless void. Purple scales did not shine, but camouflaged much of its body with the abyss. Its scale was far beyond anything, living or dead. He was face to face with a creature that could stomp out his existence as if he were a fly.

It was a dragon. No, it was _the_ dragon.

"Grima," Robin muttered. He couldn't hear his own voice.

The thing brought its head down, stopping just before the tactician. Its jaws were clasped, and did not move. "GIVE IN. YOUR BODY HAS PERISHED. THERE IS NOTHING LEFT FOR YOU TO GO BACK TO."

Robin's skin did not crawl. Chills did not run down his spine. His hands did not tremble. And fear did not grip him.

"Haaa…"Robin remained still. He was calm. "They're safe."

"…THINKING OF YOUR PLAYTHINGS, EVEN NOW? PATHETIC."

"I don't think so." Robin said, looking straight into its alien eyes. "Do what you want. But I'm not giving you anything until I've given them plenty of time to escape this realm. I've seen enough of that cursed fortress… but I think it'll make a nice prison for you."

The beast was still, perhaps contemplating what it would yell into his mind in retort. However, it only chuckled.

A violet orb erupted into existence. Robin was on his back the next moment. He had a hard time noticing, as the ceiling and floor were exactly the same. He looked down and found a gash across his chest. It didn't bleed. It did hurt, but not in the way he expected it to. Instead of an intense heat, he only felt himself being drained. His mind once again began making room for the evilness within. It was taking over.

"YOU BELIEVE THAT PRISON TO BE WORSE THAN THIS? THE FIRST THING I SHALL DO IS DESTROY IT, AND THEN EVERYTHING BEYOND THAT. AND DON'T WORRY, I WILL MAKE SURE TO FIND YOUR REALM AND OBLITERATE IT ALONG WITH YOUR PETS!"

Soon, its voice faded from his mind. The ringing of silence dominated. There was nothing to see. Nothing to hear. Nothing to feel but his soul be slowly taken.

"Heh… there goes my… last bluff…" Robin struggled to keep consciousness. Everything was fading, along with his mind. "So dark… A sea of black… I have… no final strategy… No cards left to play… He has… won… Ah… I c-can't see… I can't hear… nothing… … …Nothing… …"

As he lay there, he took one last look for the light that may guide him back, however impossible it may be. No such light existed. Only the darkness stared back.

…It was not nothingness. It was _Darkness._

There, rushing toward him was something different from the emptiness of this realm. It was formless, bubbling like a rolling fog and gushing forth with the ferocity of a great flood. The anomaly had no end. The walls of dark were converging on them, growing in both height and width to fill the vast emptiness with substance.

"WHAT?"

The dragon above shifted its head in all directions. Its maw unhinged to an impossible angle. The amount of fire that spilled out was more than any forest fire, its luminosity blinding him as he looked on unflinchingly. The flames met the dark, and drove it back. Grima swept his fire across the expanse, desperately trying to cover all sides. It was in vain. Not even this infinite gauntlet was enough. Nearer and nearer the darkness came. Soon it would be upon them.

"N-NO! WHAT IS THIS? WHAT…" Grima closed his mouth and roared in Robin's mind. The End Dragon turned to the man and glared him down. "YOU WILL BE MINE. THE PROPHECY MAY HAVE—"

"Yeah yeah," Robin rolled onto his back, chuckling. "Thanks for the warning… even if I won't remember it."

The massive dragon opened its mouth at him. It flapped its wings and lunged down to scoop the tactician up in one gulp. For a moment, Robin thought it would do just that. Instead, as the dark engulfed the tail and then quickly consumed his hindquarters, Grima retracted its head and only snarled. The dragon continued to be eaten away and hidden within the expanding fog, and Robin knew he had won. The last he saw before being consumed in darkness were those red, malice filled eyes.

The darkness washed over him.

It was warm.

2

Robin awoke lying on stone.

He was cold. That's what his skin told him. Somewhere deep within, however, was strange warmth that felt very comfortable.

His mind was a blank slate. As he struggled to open his eyes, he found nothing but questions flooding his mind. Where was he? Who was he? Flashes of terrible events were fading away as they flashed to the forefront of his mind. He tore his eyelids free from each other, dispelling the images of fire and death.

In his immediate view, six heads blocked the dull blue moonlight streaming in from the windows. It took him much longer than he would have liked to remember them. Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, Tharja, Lon'qu, and Kellam. With these names and faces came a flood of memories. He remembered everyone else who he'd met along the way. They had fought a war together. They had faced disaster together. They had forged bonds, and good memories. How could he have ever forgotten? That was the one thing he couldn't recall.

Lissa was crying. Frederick was stone faced. He couldn't make out Tharja's expression through the shadow that loomed over her. And Lon'qu… he was alive. They each had their heads down, which was understandable. They all thought he was dead, all except for Chrom. He was the first to notice his eyes were open. After flinching back in surprise, the man gave a content smile as if he'd known all along what the outcome would've been.

Robin cleared his throat, and then churned out a greeting. "Evening, everyone. What brings you to the barracks, today?"

3

 **Hope ahead**

 **Gorgeous view ahead**

 **I did it!**

 **I can't take this…**

 **Happiness**

 **Tears**

 **Praise the Sun!**

Robin read the glowing messages that were scattered all around. They were short, but carried meaning behind every word. Whoever wrote them had made it. They had reached the end just as they had, and stood on the exact same grounds of victory. There were so many popping in and out of existence, some grudging, some boastful, others helpful. Many were survivors, but he had a sense that some were just about to enter that fortress.

He brought his left hand up, inspecting the backside of his palm. The tattoo was still there. It hadn't vanished, but it hadn't grown in size either. Nothing had changed. He didn't know why, but he felt relieved by the sight of it.

"U-um… Robin?"

He glanced over to find Lissa sheepishly kicking the dust on the brown tiles. Her stave had been left behind.

"Are you… sure you're alright?"

Robin stretched and made sure his exhale was nice and loud. "Never felt better. How about the rest of us?"

Lissa didn't lighten up. "Freddy and Kellam have some pretty bad burns… Are you sure you're OK? You do know what we did to bring you back… don't you?"

Robin looked passed her. The Shepherds were huddled near the broken chandelier. The two knights were free from their destroyed armor. Lissa had scrounged some cloth together for the bandages that wrapped around the right half of Kellam's face. Even with the wound, he was joyfully reminiscing about the fight with Frederick. Lon'qu was leaning against a huge pillar, calmly listening to their chatter. The myrmidon glanced Robin's way, and nodded.

Vaike had his arm clasped on the newcomer's shoulder. It was the Knightess that had been the one who'd captured him. By his vouching, they didn't immediately attack her. Instead, they listened to her side of the story to find that, like Chrom and himself had said so many times, that it had all been a misunderstanding. Trust was an uneasy thing to hand to a previous enemy, but the Exalt waved it off, like he always did when he suspected honesty in misguided intentions.

Tharja was sitting far from the rest. Her tome was clutched to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly against her knees. There was no sign of the Humanity.

"It was her idea… I know how you much you hate those… whatever they are. But, we had no choice. It worked for Lon… so, are you feeling anything?"

Robin looked again to his hand. He clenched the muscles, then released. The motion… it felt different. He couldn't tell exactly why, but something was off. His body was healthy, but there was some kind of detachment. Despite this, he knew he was lucky to be alive.

Yes, those dark sprites weren't evil things. They weren't good either. He had some idea that this world wasn't so easily defined.

"I guess it wasn't what I'd thought it to be…"

"Lissa! Darling!" Maribelle ambushed them. She wrapped herself behind Lissa. "Did you think our reunion would be over with just one embrace? Oh, how I worried about your safety..."

"Get off! Your… h-heavy…!" Lissa said, who squirmed and struggled to break free. "I'm fine! Fine I tell you!"

Maribelle only brought herself closer, nuzzling her cheek with her victim's. Tears were spilling from her clenched eyes. "Oh, I'm so immensely glad everyone made it out of harm's way…" She suddenly wrinkled her nose. Her eyes flew open, and she released Lissa so that she could scan her up and down. "You smell like… oh my, is that SEWAGE stains on your dress? You look absolutely awful!"

"Thanks Maribelle…" Lissa ignored the cleric and turned to Robin.

He had been contently watching, thinking to let them alone for a moment. He didn't, as Lissa seemed serious about asking something.

"What is it?" Maribelle lowered her voice, recognizing the other's perilous mood.

Lissa gloomily gazed up at the colossal painting. "I wonder where June went… do you think she… died?"

The tactician double checked the area himself. Their guide had once again vanished. This time, of course, there was no way they could make it back to the bonfire. He didn't know whether they'd ever cross paths again. If she'd been a spirit guiding poor saps like them, or if she was just a regular denizen of that world within a world, he would probably never know.

"There's a lot I don't know, but what happens on the battlefield isn't one." Robin turned to Lissa and ruffled her hair. "She didn't die. All I can think of is that she completed her mission. We're in no need of guidance now."

Lissa smacked his hand away, her cheeks a blistering red that stood out against the white scenery. "Ugh! That's something my brother would say. I want answers! Who was she? Why did she help us…? I mean… Why didn't she stay?" Her voice sank away to a mutter.

Maribelle mimicked her anger. She haughtily placed her hands on her hips and glared at Robin. "Who do you think you are to place your hands upon royalty? I swear… wait, who is this June person?"

"It's…" Robin ran a hand through his dirty hair. "A long debriefing."

Lissa fell silent. Robin himself was disappointed to not have been able to recruit such a warrior, even if she required some training. He had to guess Lissa was sad for different reasons to lose the new friend, however.

"Robin." Chrom came with the Knightess beside him. "It's time to go. She says she'll guide us out of here. Back to the Outrealm Gate."

"It would be the least I could I do. I apologize on behath of my fallen Master… We never meant for such injustice to have occurred." The Knightess who had refused to give a name bowed deeply.

"What do you think we should do?" Chrom said.

Robin smirked at how much they had to go through because of their 'justice'. "Fine… water under the bridge. Let's get out of here."

"I could hardly agree more." Maribelle said.

Chrom and the Knightess turned. He shouted a rally call to the rest of the Shepherds as both Robin and Maribelle followed.

Maribelle stopped however, and called out. "Lissa?"

Robin glanced back to find Lissa lagging behind, staring up at the painting.

"Good luck." She said. When she turned around, she had a fake smile on her face. "Alright, let's get going."

"Lissa…" Maribelle choked out. "Whoever this person was clearly dear to you… I'm so sorry—"

"Nah, it's fine." Lissa passed them, not turning back. "Not like she's dead or anything."

Maribelle was taken aback. "What do you mean? How have you become so callous! Lissa, get back here!"

They rushed off.

Robin took another second to nod to himself. She was certainly right. The knight was still in there, alive, perhaps guiding others who were in need with odd gestures and reckless abandon. Despite that, he offered his own parting words. Or… at least his parting word.

"Thanks."

4

"… And with their victory, came the Age of Fire. Anor Londo was built, a city where humans and gods lived in peace. Civilization prospered. Free from the terror of Dragons, we lived with the sun over our heads, and the dark beneath our feet."

The Knightess clutched the talisman in her hand. It pained her to look upon it.

"… Many events took place. Horrible. Tragic doings with no one to blame. Our golden age began to fade. The light of our world waned while the darkness waxed. Demons, dragons, humans, gods… all cowered from the dark. All but one. He, who led the charge against the dragons at the beginning, staved off the darkness singlehandedly in the end. Lord Gwyn threw himself into the first flame, refueling the world with his own life."

Lissa and Frederick gasped. Many of the Shepherds were enthralled as she weaved the tale. They were beaten badly, some more than others. Their clothes were torn, their bodies wracked with cuts and bruises, but they each had a content air about them. She was blessed to have such a virtuous band of good hearts to pass her story onto.

"…And so, the other lords merely abandoned this city, even his own daughter Gwynevere."

"That's the one who was murdered, right?" Chrom spoke, straightening his back at the exciting revelation.

The Knightess was quick to correct him. "No. In truth, only her illusion was disgraced. She and her husband fled this land, naively believing they could escape the coming end."

"O-oh… ok then." Chrom slouched back where he sat.

"This is… confusing." The fat one said. The Knightess could not for the life of All Father Loyd recall the name he had given her.

"I will get to that part." She assured. "The one god who remained was Lord Gwyndolin, Lord Gwyn's third born. He… was my Master. He masked the growing dark that washed over the once great city with new light. He created the illusion of both the sun, and the Princess so many ventured here to meet."

"That being Gwynevere." The cloaked man named Robin said.

Lissa called out to the brazen, half naked man leaning against a broken pillar. "Hay, Vaike! You're missing vital info!"

Vaike didn't let his eyes off the entrance that led out into the cathedral's main hall. "I ain't letting my guard down! You guys don't even know how hard it was to even SEE that ghost guy. Nu-uh, no way I'm letting him waltz in here if he just-so-happens to still be alive."

"Right…" Chrom itched his blue head. "You said at some point that people started becoming undead. How does that fit into all of this?"

The Knightess paced in front of the Outrealm Gate. "I was getting to that… I…" But as she strained to remember her place, she found that she was having a hard time recalling the time between her recruitment… and meeting that horrid masked Undead. "The curse grew as the dark did. Humans began becoming Undead, or Risen as you say, but not all lost their wits. Many, such as those dark blades that came to our Master's aid, and the man who was my Master's assassin, were Undead. I'd say very few uncursed humans are still residing in this treacherous land, if any at all."

This made the warriors glance to one another, and shuffle in their seats upon the ruined floor. It didn't occur to her what this meant, and was about to go on when Robin stood.

"Are we… Undead?"

"Hmm…?" The Knightess tilted her helm at them. "What an odd inquiry. Of course you are…"

But it occurred to the Firekeeper. The axe-wielder had no sign across his naked chest. And if he was human… why wouldn't all of the foreigners be, too?

This question was answered by how they shared worried faces with one another. They had all ventured here… as humans? Were they mad? How could they possibly…

"I have the curse." A deep voice came. It was Lon'qu who spoke. His robes were loosened to reveal his bare chest. Despite his rather… chiseled physique, he had the knot of flesh which all Undead carried.

"W-what…" The blonde said with astonishment. She quickly pulled the neck of her dress out and peered down. "I don't have… NO WAY!"

"Lissa, darling," Maribelle said. "It is unlady like to check your bosom and scream with others present."

"I don't care! Check your own chest! We all have the curse!"

"I don't have anything of the sort." Chrom said. "What is the meaning of this?"

The Knightess stood motionless as she thought to herself. "Master never went into detail… I fear even he did not know of its true nature."

"And you say it spreads?" Robin said. He was the only one not checking for the sign.

The Knightess searched her memory… and found it full of holes which weren't there last she checked. Even so, she nodded. "It is well rumored to spread like any disease. Some contract the curse… and other's do not."

"To live forever…" Frederick said grimly. "Some men desire this fate, but tis a fate no man should acquire."

"Aye," The Knightess agreed. "You're wise to look to the future of anyone who happens to be so misfortunate."

"Who would want to live forever in a world so cruel, anyway…" The dark woman in the corner said. This marked the first words she had spoken since emerging form the painting. The Knightess thought it wise not to pry into just what atrocities took place.

"The villagers… they've already been afflicted." Robin said. He was speaking to himself, but everyone caught on to what this implied.

A moment passed where none spoke. Some sat and some stood as she did in the dim light. Continuing the story seemed cruel. The people of their own kingdom were being cursed as they sat here. They were just as powerless to stop it as the gods of this land were to halt its advance.

As this hopeless, despair inducing fact came to understanding, the Outrealm Gate sprung to life.

All turned toward the spontaneous light that shattered the dimness. It was teal, then aqua, then violet as the liquid substance between the two pillars waved as though it were a pool of water. It reminded the Knightess of the ocean, with all its vastness and mystery. This was the portal that had led these foreigners here, and now it would be their way of exodus.

"Someone must be coming!" Chrom said. "On your feet, it may not be an ally."

"Could it be Anna?" Lissa said, stars in her eyes.

The Shepherds had all hurried to their feet, and were eager to jump directly into the magical aura. They waited, however.

Robin snuck behind the Knightess and spoke low beside her. "Thank you. In the end, you saw justice be dealt."

The Knightess looked to the self-proclaimed tactician and then back into the majestic wonder before her. "I did very little."

A speck of darkness could be seen growing from deep within the liquid. It brought a tinge of fear, before the Knightess realized it was in the shape of a human. It was coming closer with each passing second.

"I have to ask you something." He said.

"Anything." She replied. She turned fully toward him, offering what little she had; her service. As she had said, she was willing to do anything to make amends with these falsely accused.

"Is that…" Someone's voice called in astonishment.

Robin was paying little attention to what went on behind her. No, his eyes were set. "I must ask you to remain here, and destroy this gate. If we can sever the ties between our worlds… maybe…"

The Knightess, her heart heavy with resignation, nodded with her arms clasped behind her back. "I understand. I could never leave this city behind, anyhow. I wish all of you the best of luck."

He smiled, and extended his hand. They shook, and turned to the rest of the Shepherds as they gasped in amazement.

They had formed a circle around the newcomer, someone they obviously knew. The Knightess could barely make out anything above the stranger's blue knee-high boots.

"Away, away with all of you. Give me space, in Naga's name!" It was a woman's voice.

"Maaaarth!" Lissa said, her hands high over her head in an odd gesture. "You're rescuing me again!"

"What are you doing here?" One of the men said.

Another, Vaike, looked up and down as though he were appraising art work. "So this is the woman who has saved so much royalty during the second Plegian War? Eh?"

"I'd expected her to be taller, and of finer dress." Maribelle cooed.

"Kn-knock it off!" The newcomer said, exasperated by the proximity of the many persons. "I've come in search of the Shep… Oh my— I barely recognized any of you!"

Chrom chuckled. "Good for you to arrive, even if you're a bit late to the party."

The woman's words stammered with emotion as she glanced to each of them. "F… I… I've been searching for you, all of you, for months. Have you been waiting for rescue all that time?"

"Wow!" Lissa chimed. "That's so cool! It's only been, like, a day for us."

The Knightess watched as they convened. Robin patted her shoulder as he made to join them.

"She's Marth. You two would have gotten along." Was all he said.

She was flattered by the sadness in his tone. Indeed, she felt an urge to throw her duty out to dry right then and there. This comradery, this joyful chatter, despite the darkness at their backs…they were happy to be with one another. She longed for such companionship. She hadn't even realized this until Maribelle had spoken to her, and convinced her of their innocence.

With little evidence, she believed the tactician was right. The short knightly woman, along with every one of the other foreign soldiers, appeared noble and just. They would lay down their lives for what is right. Had they been born in Lordran, she didn't doubt they'd make excellent Blades.

"Hmm…"

The Knightess kept these thoughts to herself as they said their farewells, and made to cross through together, the Knightess put some distance between them. She was preparing to cast what little lightning magic she had been taught, and was struggling to remember the incantation.

"H-hay! Are you not joining us?" Maribelle shouted, glancing and then fully turning away from the gate as she noticed the Knightess walking away.

"She has to stay behind." Robin said simply.

"Poppycock!" The fine spoken woman said. "We can't leave her!"

"We must hurry." Marth said. "Before the gate closes again. The capital is in an uproar. We can't afford to lose any more time."

"But…"

The Knightess raised a hand. "May the light guide thee."

The woman showed no sign of accepting this goodbye, but alas, she had to. Each stepped into the bright light, and faded into obscurity as they ascended into their world. Chrom, Lon'qu, Frederick, Maribelle. Names of people she would surely forget with the coming onslaught of time, but would hold in high regard until then. When it was only Robin and Lissa left, the young girl called out.

"If you see a knight who makes funny gestures, tell her thanks for us, ok?"

The Knightess didn't have time to reply as the tactician yanked her inside the gate, just as the aura vanished. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the light was gone.

The Knightess was left alone. Her eyes adjusted to the dark to find the gate was once more only two pillars with empty space between. She gazed at its wonder, its craftsmanship for only a moment longer, before she began the spell.

After filling out this request, she would cross the elevator, ride the lift, descend the steps, and stroll pass her bonfire. She would sit against the far wall opposite to the only entrance, with her prideful flame burning between her and the darkness outside. She would sit crossed legged, her rapier lain just in front of her, and wait. She knew the power of the cursed. One day, he would escape that painting. Undead like him always found some way, some how. They always found an entrance, they always overcame. And on that day, he would want to finish what he started.

And as she guided and informed any who still came across this derelict ruin of a city, she would wait for him.


	17. Epilogue: Monotony's End

Epilogue

Monotony's End

As I sat at the edge between the abyss and the empty fortress, I stared at the looming moon overhead. It never moved. No matter how long I stared, or if I looked away for what seemed like days, it never budged an inch. It was pure white, a beauty against the equally serene sky that matched it. It had never occurred to me just how beautiful this sight was. With all the mountains, and the sky, and the tranquil breeze that brought it all together. It was gloomy, sure. But it was a gorgeous view. One that I had passed by so many times after my first run through of this place. Now that I was forced into stagnation, forced to sit and take in everything at a snail's pace, I could appreciate it.

No matter how many times I rested at that bonfire, the bridge never reformed. At first, I thought it was utter bullshit. Vases and entire bridges replaced themselves all the time, but not this one. For whatever reason… not this one…

I searched high and low for something, anything to get me out of here. Homeward bones were useless. Killing myself only brought me back to that stupid, puny flame which I never bothered to kindle until now. Nothing allowed me to escape. I was trapped here.

I killed everything within these black walls. From rage, from frustration, I killed them just because I could. My worst nightmare had come true. I was stuck. I would eventually hollow, go nuts despite all of the power I had gathered, all of the times I saved this world from the dark. I was nothing more than another Undead who'd finally met their end of the line.

I had thought to myself, "Well… why not have some fun?" I mean, this had never happened before, right? In all the worlds he had been summoned to or invaded, I had never seen an area so impassable.

So, I summoned Undead. Some red, some white, some gold… no matter what, they were always astounded by the sight. They would jump and bounce and pump their fists, and that brought some comfort. I was the wielder of something no one else had ever seen before. This world was unique. And every time I summoned someone, they would eventually realize the predicament I was in. They'd leave gifts, usually in the form of Humanity. If they were red, they'd offer to duel, which I was very grateful for. If they were white or gold, we'd go through the fortress until there was nothing left to fight. They'd eventually wave farewell, and either jump into the abyss or Banish Crystal out.

That went on for… My, I couldn't even say. Years? Centuries? Time never mattered, and now wasn't going to be the exception.

My sanity was kept afloat by these many encounters. I enjoyed occasional invasions, and would hide and watch as they searched until they were practically writhing with anger. I knew this place inside and out, so it was like I was the one hunting them. When it grew stale, or when they gave up, I would always make sure to kill them for their Humanity. That was the one thing I needed to keep having fun. I needed it to stay sane.

Thankfully, I had plenty of it. Between farming those hideous albino rats and the phantom's offerings of pity, I had plenty of the stuff…

Eventually… I tired of phantoms as well. I would still summon them, but it became a force of habit after so many times. I cared less and less when they'd gesture in joy at the sight of the broken bridge, or when they lay their heads down in prostration at my predicament. I just sat at the edge, and waited for them to be satisfied and leave. Whether they'd be red, white, gold, or even blue… they always left to their own worlds to complete their own journeys.

I wished they could take me with them. There were only so many gestures one could come up with when both parties were terrible conversationalists. In order to summon, I never consumed souls. I never progressed, never aged. As time passed, I grew further and further apart from the reality of the world. I felt my mind slipping, and could do nothing but try to conjure some thought experiment or try something that would reignite my interest to do anything but sit…

And watch….

I still summoned phantoms. I still fought invaders, and lost on the occasion. I still had a tiny sliver of memory of what is what like outside of this fake world.

It was all automatic.

As I sat on the edge, another phantom to accompany me, I found that I didn't have the will to stand back up. I was practically leaning my entire weight on the stone fence, my head resting back as I stared deeply into that moon. Soon, the phantom would tire of this stagnant world. He would leave, and that would be the last any saw of me ever again.

A part of my mind flickered as my shoulder was nudged. I blinked my vacant eyes, and turned as I struggled to focus them. The phantom had knelt beside me, clasping my shoulder. We remained that way, facing each other… for a long time. I realized, my mind beginning to race with cloudy memories, that I knew this phantom. The time and place where we had met wasn't that far away. It was at the tower which was and would forever remain unreachable. I reached for the name. I tried, shaking my head and jumbling my thoughts… a name! I needed to remember the name! A voice had shouted it once before.

But I couldn't remember.

She was a knight. Her armor and stature were generic. The same as they were all that time ago. It made me believe that she was a damn time traveler who had come from that exact moment to have her revenge or something. No… she had her weapon holstered. She was a white phantom, and could never harm her host. But she could at least cast a jape at my expense, or laugh at what I wrought with my own actions. No… she didn't do any of that.

That's right. She was the honorable type. She had tried to duel me. And I had backstabbed her.

What a fool I was… I could not for the life of me remember the details of the encounter, but I remembered that much. No matter what had happened, I had no right to do such a thing.

I opened my mouth, but no words came. How could she ever forgive me? What was her reaction when I summoned her? I had already forgotten…

I turned away from her helmet, and refocused my stare on the moon. I hoped she would leave immediately. My mind had been rekindled, but only with bad memories of the horrible things I did to try to save my sanity. Why… why had I attacked? What if they were friendly? What if I had—

I heard the rustle of armor, and found the knight had sat next to me. From one of her pouches, she offered me a hand full of Humanity. When I made no motion to grab them, she simply laid them on the ground between us. Then, she grabbed her knees and pulled them close to her.

I was thankful I had never thrown away my mask. It was the only thing keeping my ugly, crying face from the saint's view. It wasn't the Humanity, which I made no motion to grab. It was how she was willing to keep one such as I company, when I needed it most. It brought warmth where the cold had latched onto. It revitalized my dulling mind, and destroyed my established notion of her wanting any kind of revenge.

I didn't understand it. She stayed with me for a long time. Every second I counted, wishing that she'd leave. It was a horrible thing, to not only experience eternity, but have someone such as that pity you so that they would attempt to join you in hell. I did not deserve such a companion, and she did not deserve such a fate.

I breathed a wistful thanks to the phantom, and rolled my tired body over the edge. She almost caught me. Gods, that would have been a pain. I fell away, and soon would awake back at the bonfire.

I would lie there, with a smile on my rotting face, and let my soul finally rest.

2

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Libra, Happy birthday to youuuu!"

The melody was drawled through drunken slurs, and sung with beautiful expression. Robin joined forces with the many Shepherds who crowded the messhall. Many more had showed up than expected, but that was alright. There was plenty of drink and food for this celebration to be called a feast. The small cake, however, would not last more than a few servings that would be fought over in short time.

They either sat or stood around the rectangular table as their cheer came to an end. Libra sat in the middle, looking delighted and just a little overwhelmed by the uproarious song in his name. Ricken managed to sneak in and douse the candles with some fire magic as the monk closed his eyes to silently give thanks to Naga. Then, Libra blew the small flames out.

"Hurrah! *Belch*" Vaike wobbled as he made to stand on the table. The fancy clothing Maribelle had picked out for him were untucked and already had stains that smelled like the man's breath. He was pissed drunk. Even so, he managed to call a toast before falling backwards to somehow land in his seat perfectly.

"I swear for the love of…" Mairbelle tried her best to ignore him as she cut portions of cake with fine precision. Each portion was equal, and even. She gave the first plate to Libra. "Ignore that oaf. He'll spoil the occasion."

"Thank you. And thank you all for joining me on this day." Libra said. His voice barely overcame the commotion that filled the spacious hall. "It must have been a bother to come all this way during your leave of absence."

"It's nothing!" Stahl smiled. "We never have time to throw anything this big in war time. This is like a party for all of us."

"Yeah." Sully flanked Stahl, hooking an arm around him. She had brought her own custom, oversized mug for the occasion. "We need to take a note from the Ol' Teach over there and loosen up!"

"Sully!" Stahl laughed. "The night's barely begun and you're already flush as a radish."

Robin sat at one of the far ends. It was a great view. At every one of these celebrations, he couldn't help but count how lucky he was. He was lucky to have so many allies, so many friends. Peace time wouldn't last forever, and even then danger was never too far away in their professions. So he savored every moment.

"Isn't this so merry." Tharja muttered next to him. Her scornful sarcasm hadn't let up since they had traveled to the strange land. Robin had some idea she wasn't so pleased to have come away from that adventure empty handed. That or she just didn't like that she was dragged to this social gathering. Both were plausible.

"It is a nice occasion. You'd do well to enjoy it."

"What's there to enjoy? A whole room full of drunkards playing darts, arm wrestling and retelling old stories doesn't have much to offer besides by-stander entertainment."

Robin shoveled some stuffed potato down as Tharja finished her whining. "You know. I'd expect you to say this stuff to Frederick or the like. What gives? Not trying to put up a face in front of me anymore?"

Tharja recoiled as if she'd been dealt a critical blow. "This face is the only one I have! If you're disappointed I'm not fawning for you right now, tie a piece of meat to your waist and let some wyverns chase you around."

"Oh, that stung." Robin said through a stuffed mouth. She'd been like this ever since. She had always been rude, dark, and miserable, but now she was like this even in his presence.

When he added nothing else and went back to viewing the celebrations, Tharja sighed. "I had it in my hands. In my hands, Robin."

He nodded as he continued staring off. Frederick had somehow veered off from a war story to tell how Chrom had had a crush on his babysitter when he was ten. The Exalt himself leapt from his seat to wrestle the knight in order to silence him.

Robin turned back to the dark mage. "So you are mad about losing that Humanity."

"Of course…" She crossed her arms, seeming awkward in her dress and without a tome tucked to her chest.

"Well it's gone. Our worlds are disconnected. The Humanity disappeared along with the curse."

"No..." Tharja said. "It didn't."

A bolster of laughter cracked nearby. It seemed like they were enjoying the story. At their end of the table, Robin and Tharja were in their own bubble of silence. He turned away from her to look out the draped windows. The night outside was thick with a new moon overhead. With all the torchlight inside, it was like the dark was glued to the glass; like it was painted on. That was until a pair of guards carrying torches passed on their patrol nearby.

The Humanity was still inside him. The curse had dissolved from the villager's and the Shepherd's chests, and no more foreign Risen were sighted. He thought it was over at that point. But he never let slip from his mind the possibility that those dark sprites were still within both himself and Lon'qu. What that meant… he didn't know.

Tharja leaned forward in her seat, smiling. "How about I take a quick look inside that head of yours? Maybe I can pull that gem out and…"

"And what?" Robin said. "We can't return it."

Tharja rolled her eyes. "To experiment on it, of course. Think of the possibilities! You, me, discovering new hexes, new spells! Oh, how wonderful it'd be to make more of them."

"I can't believe what you're saying…" Robin said, disgusted by how enticed he was. "Even… even if it's a powerful healing item, are you really willing to risk unleashing that curse upon our world?"

Her dark eyes gleamed. "What if I find a way to control it?"

"What are you…?" He was minding his volume. She did not.

"Immortality, Robin! I know how much you care about us. Think of the tactical advantage of undying troops. Not all of the army, no. That'd cause too much of a panic…"

"There's no way that would…" Robin had trouble finishing the thought.

The very same idea had crossed him when the Fire Keeper explained it. They would be able to win any battle, achieve any victory. Anyone with that power would be unstoppable. But the cost for such a power would be the same as the power itself. One would never be able to die.

"No." Robin said. "Even if you could control it."

"What happens when one of us eventually dies?"

"That won't happen as long as I'm here."

"Don't be naïve." Tharja's honeyed words turned scornful. "We won't live forever, Robin. Can you carry on with the knowledge that—"

"Yes." Robin said easily. "No one is meant to live forever."

"Will you let me finish!" Tharja hissed.

Robin turned away from the dark mage. Lissa and Cordelia emerged from the kitchen with some gifts.

"Present time! Present time!"

Nowi's shouting brought him back to the joyful messhall. She bounced in between an annoyed Lon'qu and Gregor.

"Oi, perhaps it best if granny lay off the sugar." The merc said.

"Pipe down, pipe down!" Maribelle called down the banter.

Robin watched along with everyone as Lissa outstretched her gift to Libra. The monk acquired a remarkable smile as he laid eyes on the stave. "What craftsmanship… Lissa, you needn't bestow such a lovely piece for me."

Lissa chuckled shyly. "It's a… well it's kinda well used. B-but it has at least one or two more uses…"

"A-ah… I see. The orb is cracked. Well… I'm just grateful to have everyone here with me." Libra smiled.

Even though his words were warm, the cleric gloomily marched back to her seat.

Libra seemed confused.

Robin looked to each who sat around him. Tharja was pouting across from him, but the rest were very, very merry. These joyful occasions were more frequent than ever, but he had an idea that peace wouldn't last forever. Eventually, something would break the equilibrium that Lady Emmeryn and everyone accomplished. He carried the knowledge that these were soldiers, and would eventually lay down their lives for any new challenge they faced. Their fates were in his care. He had to keep them alive. For as long as possible, he would make sure they lived full, happy lives.

 **The End**

* * *

 **Final Thoughts:**

I don't think this is professional, but hay it's fanfic. Who cares. I wanted to say a few things.

First off, thank you to anyone who actually took the time to read this far. This is my first really big thing I've ever written (For me anyway), and when I first sat down to actually work on it, I set out with the goal of at least one other person taking enjoyment out of it. I succeeded! So thank you.

But I also want to ask; What parts were boring? What scenes were great, bland, needless, or could have been better? What were your favorites of this whole thing, and what was disappointing? I think my writing is the bee's knees, but seriously i know it could be leagues better. I don't have a fancy way with words or a complex vocabulary. Hopefully that comes with time. But in order to git gud, I need other voices on this. I would really appreciate critic on any aspect of the story, characters, or what have you. Anything that comes to mind, shoot me a pm or a review. Just know, for any who use guest accounts, that I can not reply with a pm of my own. And that's the only way I can message people. I think.

Anyways, that's it. This story is done. Unluckily for you, I have not been able to write at a fast enough pace to have another ready by now. The one I'm feeling I will actually finish won't be done for a while. I'll just throw a date out there and say it will AT MOST be ready by 12/28/2016. I recommend "The Age of Fire" by LAST HORSEMAN, and "At the End of Day" by Gargoyleknight if you need any golden Dark Souls stories.

Thanks for stopping by,

-cokemonster


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